Preguntas y Respuestas - Mayo 28, 2022

How can we avoid negative emotions in the face of a foreign invasion and not rejoice in the death of enemies? It is very difficult not to be happy when the enemy’s tank is burnt.

Generally, all wars have happened due to karma accumulated in past lives. It is said that the cause is negative karma, the conditions are negative karma and obscurations.

The conditions are the various hindrances and obstructors in evil spirits, and the results are suffering, illness, and so forth. If karma is not created, then nothing in this world can ever happen.

When you fight in a war, you should think that, “I’m doing this in order to protect the people, and it’s not for some kind of personal reason.” With that kind of state of mind, you can continue to defend your country and fight in the war as before.

Also think that all of those who lose their lives in that war, may all of them attain liberation. Everything that happens, happens due to karma.

Then supplicate to Tārā single-pointedly, and don’t at all think about self and other.

Think that when you defend the country, “I’m doing this for the people, not for myself.” Even if you die, think that, “If I die, I’m dying for the sake of others and in order to protect others, in order to benefit sentient beings.” This is how one should die.

How do we do the jang chok practice by ourselves?

There’s no one on this earth who is born and who doesn’t have to die. Everyone has to die. Think that everyone who dies when you engage in this practice may attain the state of liberation.

When we die, it is because of karma; therefore, we cannot actually prevent death. When you practice the jang chok, pray for the well-being of those who are alive and for the liberation of those who have passed away.

You can actually just recite the verses to Tārā who protects from the eight fears. Within that, there are two lines that encompass everything. These two lines are: “She who closes the doors to the lower realms, and she who guides on the path to the higher realms.” Everything is included within these words. You can just pray to Tārā in this way.

I used to have lucid dreams in which I could feel my emotions, see colors, and at times even recognize that I was dreaming. Now I no longer have such clear dreams and practice detachment from the current state. Does this mean my meditation has become dull or deteriorated?

It’s not that your meditation has declined, but it is said that whatever you hold to be true — whether it is a dream or the waking state during the daytime — whatever you hold to be true and real will lead to obstacles. Therefore, do not hold anything to be true.

The mind is obviously the same, whether you are in a dream or you have passed away or in a waking state. After the body has passed away, the mind continues on either to the pure realms or anywhere into the three lower realms. But the mind is not going to die.

Whatever it is, whether it is your life experiences or your dream experiences, see them as illusions and don’t hold them to be true. Just let it all be.

Sometimes it is just because of our physical disposition, our blood flow, and the channels, and so forth, that we have all kinds of perceptions, and sometimes the perceptions are very clear. If they are clear, don’t be happy about it. If they are unclear, don’t be upset or sad about it.

No matter how it is, just let it all be and view the dream experience and the waking state experience during the daytime as exactly the same. All compounded phenomena are impermanent.

Next question. How should new practitioners view ritual instruments and other visual elements when they don’t understand the significance? How should we place our minds during practice if we get confused about this?

If you know what the significance of all these instruments and articles is, then that’s good. The more you know, the better it is, and the more merit you accumulate.

If not, basically, all the instruments represent the union of method and wisdom, or in terms of sound, the union of sound and emptiness.

When you think about where the sound comes from, what is sound? Sound neither exists nor does it not exist. That shows the nature of all phenomena. They don’t exist and they do not exist. That is the view of the Middle Way: neither existent nor non-existent.

However much you know, you use this knowledge. If you do not know about something, you just meditate in the clear and empty mind. Then you can just meditate, and that is actually enough. If you know, the more you know, the better it is, the more merit you will accumulate. It’s good to learn about it.

Next question. How can we practice the bodhisattva conduct while being realistic about our ability to help others?

Most important is to be mindful and aware at any moment as much as you can, because the Buddha said, “What is emptiness is actually heedfulness, conscientiousness.”

If you are mindful, then you will not disturb the minds of others. You will be straightforward, honest, and you will cultivate love and compassion.

If you are mindful, all of your activities will naturally become bodhisattva activities. But if you are unmindful, you are actually placing karmic imprints into your mind. If you are mindful, just naturally you will avoid harming others, and you will accomplish the benefit of others.

Mindfulness, heedfulness is most important to maintain on an ongoing basis. Then, naturally, you will engage in bodhisattva activity.

This mindfulness is like in the Tārā prayer, the mother goddess of mindfulness that protects beings. That mother goddess of mindfulness and your own mindfulness are one and the same.

The guru’s mind, the Buddha’s mind, your own mind are one and the same. The inner guru is your own clear awareness, your wisdom. If you are mindful, all qualities arise from that. If you are unmindful, all faults arise from that.

If you are unmindful, you will be very gentle in your activities, for example, and you are very gentle with material objects on an ongoing basis. If you are mindful, all qualities arise from that.

When you see an insect, like a little animal, you will immediately feel compassion for them. Because you are mindful, you won’t step on it, but you will see it and cultivate compassion for it. You can see that many qualities arise from mindfulness. If you are always mindful, naturally you will develop this mind of immeasurable love.

Next question. Is nonduality the same as emptiness?

We always speak about emptiness. When we say that the universe and all beings are compounded phenomena, and therefore they are empty of self-nature, that is something we can comprehend.

But often when it’s with two people, just two people, we still think that we are separate, we are separate individuals. All those people who have realized nonduality or the nature of the mind, they will recognize that there are only two bodies, but they are not two minds. Our mind is nondual.

We say there are buddhas and there are sentient beings, but actually their minds have a single basis. One who understands that understands the actual view, which is the nonduality of the mind.

For example, it’s like having two vases that are filled with emptiness, basically, and the emptiness in both vases is the same. This is how we should understand nonduality.

Next question. When a person dies, we usually send their names to gurus. If the person was not a Buddhist, is that still helpful?

That is an excellent question, and something that we should really understand. These concepts of being a Buddhist or not being a Buddhist is a temporary construct that we have fabricated in our own mind, and that doesn’t actually exist.

The Buddha actually said it in one line that really encompasses everything. He said, “All sentient beings are actually buddhas.”

All beings with the body or without a body, all beings of the three realms of saṃsāra, the three planes of existence, even though there are many, they all have a single mind. There are no two minds; they are not separate. It’s just that we fabricate separations in our minds.

All beings are one on the basis of buddha nature. Temporarily, this nature is obscured. When this nature, this obscuration, is being dispelled, then the inner buddha nature that is buddha will reveal itself. That is what the Buddha means by saying that all beings are actually buddhas.

Now, we are obscured by karmic patterns. As a result of these obscurations, we have to wander in the six realms of saṃsāra for some time. But ultimately, we are still non-dual, all sentient beings. There’s no self and other, or Buddhist or non-Buddhist. Also, those who are so-called non-Buddhist, whoever we pray, they will also attain liberation.

There is something that we always say, we always express verbally. But what is the actual meaning of that? That is, Longchen Rabjam, for example, said that there is no higher learning than realizing the natural state of the mind.

Milarepa also said, when explaining the pāramitās, “Aside from realizing the nature of the mind, there is no other perfection of wisdom than that.” That line really takes care of this entire issue.

When we understand that, we understand that there are no Buddhist or non-Buddhist; there is no duality in the mind, they are not separate in the mind. Anyone who realizes the nature of the mind will immediately understand that.

It is just because of temporary karmic imprints that we develop all kinds of afflictive emotions and experiences of happiness and suffering. But at the same time, in the mind, there is still no duality.

Milarepa had said, “Aside from realizing the nature of the mind, there is no other perfection of wisdom than that.”

There are many more quotations by different khenpos, but actually, just this one quote by Milarepa is sufficient.

Next question. “I was in a car accident and noticed as the car was going to tip over, I said, ‘No, no, no.’ How can we train only to keep our mind on the guru in such traumatic events or at the time of death?”

Whoever you can remember that time, whether it is the guru or the yidam or the Buddha, you will merge with their mind; the natural state of your mind merges with them.

Your body in a car is nothing but just a pile of dust. The body will die anyways. Everything is impermanent, like a dewdrop on a plate of grass. But the mind is one with the guru’s mind. Your own buddha nature is one with the mind of the Buddha.

The body is just like a pair of clothing that you will take off, and then the mind goes on, and the mind must be led by faith.

If you have that on an ongoing basis, then immediately you will be able to remember faith or devotion to the guru. Through the power of your innate wisdom within yourself, you are able to remember the guru or the Buddha.

If you are able to remember, then it is just like two drops of water merging into one, and you attain liberation. Because the mind transcends birth and death, the mind goes on.

In the 37 Bodhisattva Practices, in the very beginning, it says, “They have realized that phenomena neither come nor go.” Think about this again and again. Everything is included in the 37 Bodhisattva Practices.

Next question. My children’s father died due to drugs and alcohol. My 24-year-old son is presently undergoing treatment to quit drugs and alcohol. My 21-year-old son also uses alcohol and drugs and threatened me with death. I quit drugs and alcohol and took a vow of celibacy 15 years ago. Yet despite my efforts, I continue to suffer the negative effects of my karma. What should I practice? What can I do for my children?

Your children have their own karma. They have to follow their own karma. You can’t really fix everything. Especially this particular karma of drinking and alcohol will lead to birth as an animal. That is the path of karma that they go.

You should cultivate love and compassion for them. You have taken a vow of celibacy. What is the ultimate vow that we take? All vows ultimately come down to abandoning self-grasping and cultivating an altruistic mind, thinking only about the welfare of others. In this way, holding on to bodhicitta.

Don’t analyze the situation too much and just know it is their karma and meditate on immeasurable love. If their conduct is really negative, it is because of their karma, and we can’t always fix that right away.

Their mind also cannot die. What will really help them is if you sustain a mind of altruism, because that is what will melt the ice block of self-grasping. Don’t think of their fault, that something is wrong with them. Just cultivate love and compassion for them.

Remember the Buddha and the dharma. Actually, love and compassion—if you remember love and compassion, that is the dharma. And think that my body is the saṅgha. “I love everyone; therefore, I am the saṅgha.” The Three Jewels are complete within me. In this way, try to stay happy.

Next question. How can I deal with loneliness and a longing to be with someone? How can I deal with the fear of being hurt and rejected while a part of me yearns for love and warmth?

You think that if I don’t have a companion, then that’s the best. Because my real companions are Chenrezig and Tārā, with whom I’m never separate. It depends if you’re male or female, then you just supplicate to Chenrezig or to Tārā. These deities really will never separate from you—in this life, in future lives, and in the bardo.

Think that if I do not have a companion, it’s much better. Because if you have a companion, then you have qualities and faults both coming together. If you have a companion, there are a lot of problems all the time.

If you do not have a companion, think about the faults of having a companion. Think that it’s better not to have one and just be happy.

But if you do have a companion, don’t think about the faults of having a companion. Then you should think about the qualities of having a companion. Think that now it is good to have this companion. Now I can practice love and compassion and see them as Chenrezig or Tārā.

Then, even after I have died, I will remain inseparable from Chenrezig and Tārā because they will go together with my mind. Basically, pray to Chenrezig or Tārā. Generally speaking, it’s better not to have a companion because then you have your freedom.

Next question. It’s hard for me to meditate because of work and mundane activities. I’ve been practicing meditation for a few years, but my mind is still distracted and I cannot focus. What is the most effective approach?

While you’re doing these activities, you should engage in them with mindfulness and heedfulness. Actually, if you engage in mundane activities with mindfulness, this is how the best meditation arises.

First you understand the view, and then you engage in meditation practice. But ultimately, we have to bring this experience gained in meditation into our day-to-day conduct. That is all of our activities, our mundane activities.

During all your activities, recognize all the thoughts arising in the mind, all the emotions of attachment and anger. When they arise, immediately meditate. This is what is meant by saying that we have to merge the meditation with the day-to-day conduct.

Think that from this perspective, it’s even better, and it’s good that I have to engage in mundane activities because this is where I can actually practice without distraction. Try to sustain a state of non-distraction during all of your activities, and then the activities themselves will become meditation.

Next question. “I live in a monastery and have been bullied by other people there. How should I view the situation and how should I respond with wisdom and compassion?”

This is also explained in the 37 Bodhisattva Practices. Actually, when we are humiliated or mistreated, then we are losing our pride. We should think that being put down is a good thing.

It’s actually this quote that says, “I do not wish to be praised; I wish to be blamed because when I’m praised, my afflictive emotions increase or remain hidden. And when I’m blamed, then I can increase my patience.”

In all of these activities, we can practice patience, and patience is really the essence of all practice. Therefore, there is no greater austerity than patience. Patience is the best practice because if you cultivate patience, all your other qualities will increase.

I think that this is an excellent opportunity to practice patience, and then your mind will actually improve or develop. Patience is like a golden vessel that needs to contain the milk of bodhicitta. It supports your practice of bodhicitta. Most important is to perfect the pāramitā of patience.

Also, there is this Tibetan saying, “If there is no one who makes you angry, then who will you practice patience with?” You can’t do that without the same thing. Your best friend is the 37 Bodhisattva Practices. Everything is in there; any solution or advice is in there. Thank you.

Next question. I’m a young man and I have trouble controlling my sexual desire despite meditation. I’m afraid to ask such a question face to face to anyone, so I’ve been suffering in silence. Dharma has helped me greatly, but at times I still slip back into the same suffering of sexual desire, which is discouraging. Please give me some guidance.

Generally speaking, when we have not realized the nature of the afflictive emotions, they are poison. But when we realize their nature, they are primordial wisdom.

When strong desire arises, actually, the bliss that arises along with this desire is a quality, an aspect of your own mind. It is the blissful nature of your own mind. Bliss arises when the ordinary thoughts stop and you come to the fundamental basis of the mind.

Then you experience bliss, and that’s the actual bliss. You just need to recognize that the bliss is not contingent on an outer force, but is actually inherent to your own true nature.

According to the Buddhist view, this is the ultimate nature of the bliss that arises due to desire, because it brings you to the natural state of the mind. You must only recognize then that this bliss is not separate from you.

We think that it arises due to an outer condition like a companion and so on, but in reality, it is the quality of your own mind. It is your innate nature. When you meditate, you recognize that; therefore, you should make an effort in meditation. Then you come to realize your true nature is bliss. Since it is your true nature, it is unchanging bliss.

In the 37 Bodhisattva Practices, it says the happiness of the saṃsāric realms is as fleeting as the dewdrop on the tip of a blade of grass. You should rather strive toward never-changing liberation, which is the never-changing bliss. That is your true nature.

You recognize it through meditation practice. What you should do is merge that desire that arises with meditation, and then recognize that the bliss generated through the desire is actually your own true nature.

Next question. What is the process of generating the bindus, nāḍīs, and prāṇa at rebirth?

The channels, winds, and drops are within our body, but we don’t normally recognize them. They are related to the three kāyas. They are like the seeds of the three kāyas.

The channels are the seeds of the nirmāṇakāya. The winds are the seeds of the saṃbhogakāya. And the drops are the seeds of the dharmakāya.

We actualize their nature mainly through the practice of tummo, a practice belonging to the Six Yogas of Nāropa, relying on a guru. Thereby recognizing that the channels, winds, and drops are the natural light of the three kāyas.

To recognize their nature, most importantly, we engage in a three-year retreat. That’s why this three-year retreat is important, where we practice tummo and the other Six Yogas of Nāropa.

In terms of how they come about when we take rebirth, it’s more a question related to how we take rebirth. Here, you have to maybe ask a scientist how our babies are made, and how they arise, and how the body grows, and so on. I’m not so sure about that.

Generally speaking, when we have the imprint of merit in our mind, then it begins with the mind. If we have the imprint of merit in our mind, then we take a precious human body. If not, then we are born anywhere else in the six realms of saṃsāra.

But generally speaking, all beings who are born through a womb actually possess general winds and drops. That’s also related to how they start to grow. It’s more of a scientific question. But it is still related when I look at my own body. The channels are the nirmāṇakāya, the winds the saṃbhogakāya, and the drops the dharmakāya.

That’s also related to the bliss that we experience. When we experience bliss through the drops, then we must recognize that this bliss is the innate bliss of our true nature, not separate from ourselves. This is not from a dharma perspective, and it might be related to the scientific response to that. But basically, from our perspective, from the Buddhist perspective, it all begins first in the mind.

Milarepa explained that too, how many explain the channels, winds, and drops. He said that the mental quality of non-conceptuality is the dharmakāya, which is the mind that is free of all thinking. Then the greatly blissful nature of the mind itself is the saṃbhogakāya. And then the clear-knowing mind is the nirmāṇakāya.

It’s because we do not clearly know the mind, we have not recognized our true nature, that the dharmakāya and saṃbhogakāya both remain obscured, so we don’t recognize them.

Therefore, to recognize them, we must understand the nature of our mind. Realize the nature of the mind; you will naturally understand the nature of the three kāyas. In order to understand it now, we have to engage in meditation practice. We have to train in those practices of channels, winds, and drops.

When you really train in them, then an understanding of all this will naturally arise. This is quite important, actually. Milarepa had said, “When there is clarity, from clarity arises the nirmāṇakāya.”

We all possess non-conceptuality, the non-conceptual mind, and also bliss. But what we do not have is the clarity. Because we lack clarity, we do not recognize the nature of our mind or the so-called view, because the mind is unclear.

When the mind is unclear, we call it the ordinary, the dualistic consciousness. The consciousness is projected outward and discerns outer objects and perceives the world as self-other duality.

What is this clarity? Clarity means that you clearly see your own true nature. It’s the self-knowing awareness. When you see your own true nature, that is when you realize non-duality. From non-duality arises the nirmāṇakāya.

Therefore, we say that nirmāṇakāya is the one who engages in the benefit of sentient beings. Ordinarily, what makes us ordinary is our dualistic perception of me and others. Clarity means to see that there is no duality. And you see that when you see your own true nature. You see it through this naturally luminous, clear awareness. And that is the nirmāṇakāya within your mind. That’s very important.

In the Samantabhadra prayer, it says, “When you recognize it, you are a buddha. Not recognizing it, you are a sentient being wandering in saṃsāra.” Recognizing it is the basis, the nature of the mind. When we do not recognize it, we are called a sentient being. A sentient being is someone who perceives a dualistic existence of self and other. That’s very important. You should think about these words.

Next question. “I’ve heard this statement, ‘The dharma is not therapy.’ Do dharma and therapy complement each other? Are they distinct? When practicing Buddhism, I notice similarities in both methods, but I wonder whether the dharma is beneficial for certain things and therapy for others. Could you please explain?”

It seems that not here, we actually come to the basis of outer and inner. In other words, “inner” is actually the word for a Buddhist in Tibetan. It’s called “inner.” Then somebody who is not a Buddhist would be “outer.” This is where this duality comes about.

One is a therapist with the “outer,” and one is the Buddhist practitioner, the “inner.” It’s like the outer and the inner. Basically, it comes back to having or not having realized the nature of the mind.

If you have not realized the nature of the mind, we are focused outward. Consciousness discerns outer objects. Then we are like an “outer.” When we realize the nature of the mind, you can say we are “inner” because we recognize the inner nature of the mind.

Attaining the state of buddhahood doesn’t mean that one develops some kind of miracle. You can fly in the sky or go through the rocks and earth, and so on. But it means that you know the nature of the mind.

When you look at your mind, there is term buddha for Tibetan. In Tibetan, it means sangs rgyas, and sangs means “to have cleared away.” When you look at your mind, and you see a true nature, then the dualistic thoughts of self and other are cleared away. Normally, it is because we cling to the existence of a duality that we become very narrow-minded, which is also similar to wearing very thick clothing.

When you realize non-duality, when you look at your mind, you are together with your companion, you will recognize that we are like two vessels, but our minds are one and the same; they are not separate.

This realization clears away dualistic thinking, and then the mind becomes vast like space, which is the second syllable rgyas in sangs rgyas. Then you realize the mind becomes vast, extensive like space. From that space-like mind that you have realized, all other qualities will actually arise. It is just a difference in having or not having understood the true nature of the mind. This is where this difference comes about.

Therefore, we can say that like a doctor who has therapy, who only focuses on outer objects, would be focused outward with their consciousness. If it is someone who has realized the nature of their mind, then there would be someone focusing inward. But it is still the same basis of the mind; there is no difference.

Basically, all of our mental diseases also arise from this dualistic grasping, from fixating on the dualistic reality of self and other. Also, past karmas that we have created that lead to various difficulties in our minds. But in brief, we can say when the mind engages in grasping, it creates a mental sickness. If we do not grasp, then there is no basis to experience any sickness.

Therefore, whoever just knows the nature of the mind is so-called a Buddhist or an “inner.” And who has not realized the nature of the mind sees self and other as separate, so as an “outer,” meaning a consciousness that projects outward and only discerns outer objects.

In my opinion, that is the only difference, and that is why there is a difference being made between outer and inner when actually it all arises really from the same basis.

Next question. I have taken three and a half years off work to practice and listen to dharma teachings. I am now at a crossroads and don’t know which way to go. I could enter the monastic path, go on a three-year retreat, or return to work until my mind is more prepared to be ordained or do a three-year retreat in the future. Can rinpoche please give some guidance?

If you want to do a three-year retreat, before you do that, you should inform yourself what that actually means, what does this entail, what do I do in a three-year retreat. You should ask a drubpa, connect to them, and inquire about the nature of a three-year retreat and really learn about it.

In general, it would be good to do a three-year retreat. But you can’t just go into a three-year retreat and only once you are there start asking the questions.

You should inform yourself before you go into a three-year retreat, for example, by asking a drubpa, a rinpoche, and a dorje just about what that actually entails. But generally speaking, it would be better to do a three-year retreat.

Next question. In the Yamāntaka sādhanā it says, “The eight classes of gods and demons are bound into servitude.” Does this mean taming the mind?

Those eight classes of gods and demons, manifestations of temporary stains, arise from the afflictive emotions. Therefore, when we tame our afflictive emotions, we also tame those eight classes of gods and demons.

But temporarily, they appear as worldly beings, but they also possess buddha nature, fundamentally. Just temporarily, they have given rise to different thoughts, afflictive emotions, and that led to them manifesting as the eight classes of gods and demons.

If one wants to subdue those gods and demons, one does so through the view. Through the view, you subdue your own afflictive emotions, and when they are subdued, then the eight classes of gods and demons are subdued.

Next question. What is co-emergent ignorance co-emergent with? If it is self-grasping, what is the difference between ignorance and self-grasping?

The co-emergent ignorance really means an innate ignorance that is a fundamental misunderstanding of the nature of the mind. Because of that, we perceive a “me.” And so the “I” begins to exist.

When one realizes the nature of the mind, one realizes that this “I” does not actually exist. There is no self and other. The mind just becomes like space, where there is no self and other.

This co-emergent might be better translated as innate. So it is something that’s innate that you don’t actually see.

For example, if you turn on the light in a temple, you can see all the objects in the temple. But if you don’t turn on the light, you won’t see anything, but the objects are still there.

Likewise, when you realize the nature of the mind, then the qualities of buddha nature, the many qualities, will reveal themselves—the innate qualities. The root of not seeing is the self. Therefore, we must destroy the self.

We destroy the self through the four immeasurables, especially immeasurable love. The self is a very thick imprint that must be destroyed through bodhicitta. If it is not, then there is no way we can see the true nature of our buddha nature. Most importantly, we need love and compassion.

This co-emergent, so-called ignorance, kind of makes the mind to be like an ice block. Then you have this solid thing of ignorance. Where is this ignorance? What is it, really? When this self melts, this idea of a self melts through the sun, then it becomes one with the ocean water.

Then where is it then? Then it’s no way. It doesn’t really exist to begin with. Then there is no more self-grasping. Co-emergent really means it is together, it is together with you, so it’s innate to you. It’s not something separate from you.

Next question. If the afflictions are really wisdom, what is being washed out in vajrasattva practice?

Whether or not afflictions are wisdom depends on yourself. Just like saying, what is fire? If what encounters fire becomes fire, then it is fire.

But whether or not it actually becomes fire, not in your own mind, you have to see for yourself when an afflictive emotion arises. When an afflictive emotion arises and it is released without leaving any feeling, any sensation of it behind, then you can understand this affliction to have become wisdom.

Then you can say the affliction is really wisdom. That is what others say when they say afflictions are wisdom, but we also have to actualize that for ourselves in our own mind. It is just like saying that what is fire. It is also what is meant with merging the experience gained in meditation, the view in meditation, with our day-to-day conduct. That is something that needs to be understood during the day-to-day conduct.

Next question. In my experience, practitioners can receive great benefits from deity practice without having had the empowerment. But often it is said that you must have the empowerment to get benefits. What is your view on this?

It depends on the kind of individual. If one is a person who has realized the nature of the mind, then they might not need to receive an empowerment. Someone who has attained complete autonomy of awareness, freedom of awareness—for them it might make no difference.

But for anyone else, in general, an empowerment is an introduction; therefore, we should receive an empowerment. Through this introduction, we first connect to bodhicitta, and that is necessary.

Unless some people do bring an imprint with them from previous lives, that’s why we say there are those who realize instantaneously and those who realize gradually. Some who instantaneously realize may not have a need to receive an empowerment.

And so there may be a hundred different empowerments, same three meanings. That is, first of all, on the outer level, we have a fixation to our physical body. Then we also grasp at the outer sounds that we hear and the inner thoughts within our mind.

If you find that we do grasp at form, sound, and thoughts, then there is a need to receive an empowerment. It depends whether or not you are grasping. If you do, the purpose of visualizing the deity during the empowerment is to cut through the grasping at physical form. Then we recite the deity’s mantra to cut through the grasping at sound. And we meditate, we look at the nature of the mind to cut through the grasping at our thoughts.

Whether or not you need to receive an empowerment, you can know by understanding, “Do I grasp at body, speech, and mind or not?” If there is really no grasping at body, speech, and mind, and you have realized the nature of the mind, then it is okay for you not to receive an empowerment.

Also, the empowerment is just like soap that washes; it cleanses you. The thicker our karmic imprints are, the more empowerment we should receive.

Now, speaking of having or not having to receive, whether or not one should receive an empowerment, first we should understand actually the meaning of the term empowerment. The empowerment is also often referred to as ripening, which is then followed by the liberating instructions.

It ripens that which is unripe, for example, like an unripe apple. If you bite into an unripe apple, it’s not really edible. It doesn’t have any pleasant flavor. It’s unripe. The mind is in an unripe state because there is a concept of me and “I.”

The empowerment ripens the mind. First, through bodhicitta, then it ripens the body through the generation stage, and the speech through the recitation of the mantra. The empowerment ripens our body, speech, and mind by releasing the three kinds of grasping.

Then that is followed; the empowerment is followed by the liberating instructions. The ripening empowerment and liberating instructions go hand in hand.

Whether or not you have a need to receive an empowerment, you cannot know by looking at whether or not you do have grasping at body, speech, and mind.

First, we need to train bodhicitta and become a bodhisattva. A bodhisattva is like a courageous, “wanna-hero.” If you want to become courageous and not lose heart, you need to have bodhicitta.

That is why all the buddhas after three times first and foremost gave rise to bodhicitta, and wish to benefit others. They had completely let go of the self, of “me,” and only cared about benefiting others.

Then, as it is said, “Even if the three worlds were to be destroyed, there is no fear.” Then you would think that whatever happens to me, it doesn’t matter. “I must use my body to benefit sentient beings, even if I encounter difficulties.”

If you have such altruism, patience will arise, and courage will arise. Fearlessness: you are able to take on the difficulties, the suffering of others. As long as you consider yourself as most important, you will always experience a lot of suffering and much hardships in your mind. If you consider others as more important, then you will definitely suffer less.

First, you must cultivate bodhicitta, and within that, most importantly, immeasurable love. It is immeasurable love that will pervade all other sentient beings. Others who suffer may be like a solid piece of ice, something that has completely solidified. If you pervade them with love, that becomes released.

Therefore, in the King of Aspiration Prayer for Excellent Conduct, it says, “The power of love is the all-pervasive power.” If you cultivate immeasurable love, the other three immeasurables will naturally arise. If love has arisen, the mind will become relaxed, and you are able to take on any difficulty.

For example, nowadays there have been some shootings in schools in the world, and just meaninglessly, really, people are being killed, and there’s a lot of suffering. This also comes; the one who kills others, who shoots others, they themselves suffer greatly to begin with, and that starts with self-clinging.

There is a strong sense of “me,” and then they think, maybe first they think that, “Oh, my parents have abused me in the past, and then this is bad, and that is bad, and everything has just gone wrong in my life.” Their mind freezes more and more into an ice block, so it solidifies more and more until the ice block cracks. Then they become mindless, and take up a gun, and kill many people, and then even kill themselves. All of that is the fault of self-grasping.

If someone understands that, for example, someone understands karma to begin with, and understands altruism, then, let alone killing people, they wouldn’t want to kill even an animal; they wouldn’t want to kill anyone, because they would understand the suffering that others then experience.

In the 37 Bodhisattva Practices, it says, “All suffering without exception comes from wishing for one’s own happiness.” It is because they only think about themselves that they experience so much suffering. All faults really come from self-grasping, all these issues that we hear about, all these suffering that we hear about, all comes down to the fault of self-grasping and the fault of lacking any bodhicitta.

On the other hand, someone who does possess bodhicitta, who has a loving mind, whatever they do, whether it is a dharma activity or a mundane activity, it will naturally become powerful and accomplish the benefit and the happiness of others.

On the other hand, all the suffering that is being inflicted, such as killing others and then killing oneself, and so on, that is all the fault of self-grasping.

How is it that those who have very strong self-grasping always suffer? It is just like when there is a lot of self-grasping, the mind becomes like cold weather. It’s getting very cold in winter, and the more it snows, the more snow builds up. Then you have a snow pile as big as a house. That is because they always think about “me, me” all the time. In the end, they are unable to carry that load and even commit suicide. Even though we can’t see our mind, their mind becomes very heavy.

Then there are others who have an altruistic mind and who are always relaxed, no matter what is happening. That is just like the mind that has become summer in the mind, and all the snow has melted and turned into water, and then the water makes all the trees and the flowers grow. Such a person is a person with great patience and love for others. That is the quality of love and the fault of self-grasping.

In the 37 Bodhisattva Practices, it says, “All suffering without exception comes from wishing for one’s own happiness. The perfect Buddhist arises from an altruistic mind.” If one just has at least some altruism, then one would certainly not kill or shoot children in a school, let alone that, but one wouldn’t even want to kill an animal because there’s altruism. On the other hand, if one has no altruism and only thinks about oneself, one will even commit suicide. In brief, it is all the fault of not understanding karma.

Last question. Vajrayāna practice is often based on visualizations. I’m not able to visualize images, shapes, and colors no matter how hard I try. I’ve tried to visualize the most basic things many times without success. My mind remains like a dark screen. What is rinpoche’s advice for practicing Vajrayāna in this case?

It’s really just as we mentioned before: you have to start with cultivating bodhicitta. Without bodhicitta as a basis, you can’t really practice the Vajrayāna.

If you do not have love as the basis, then the ice block will not melt, and then you also can’t make use of the water. First, you must cultivate immeasurable love, the four immeasurables, so that self-grasping diminishes. Only then can you really practice that dharma. Without bodhicitta, you can’t really practice the dharma. That’s about the secret mantra of Vajrayāna before.

The ultimate secret mantra of Vajrayāna is really the nature of the mind. Whoever knows the nature of the mind, the mind becomes like space. And they have realized that the mind transcends birth and death. And that realization is what we call Vajradhara.

Whoever understands that is called a Vajrayāna practitioner. But it’s difficult to understand. Not many have actually realized the nature of the mind. Some have seen the nature of the mind, but they are unable to habituate it.

What is the fault of that? It is self-grasping. It is because we are wrapped up in self-grasping. Self-grasping supports the afflictive emotions. As an antidote, what’s most important for us is the relative bodhicitta, which is the mind of immeasurable love.

If you think of it in a mundane sense, even, if in a mundane sense in this world, there is, for example, a president or a country’s leader who possesses some love and compassion, then everyone in this country will be happy and love their leader. Such a person will also think, “May everyone possess love and compassion.”

Then you have leaders of different countries. When people just hear their names, they get angry. That is because they do not have any love or altruism for their people. That is really what’s most important for the Vajrayāna practice. We need to possess love.

Vajrayāna generally means the nature of the mind. It is called “secret mantra”, secret because it is actually naturally hidden. No one can naturally easily see it. That makes it secret.

And Vajrayāna, because it is Vajradhara by nature, because the Vajrayāna is really the natural state of the mind, the space-like nature of the mind. But to recognize that, in brief, what’s most important for us is to develop immeasurable love. That’s with a leg to everyone. One. [!]