General Advice for Sangha

My very dear one,
I was very happy to receive your kind letter.

That is very important, what you discovered during retreat, discovering one’s own life, one’s own mind—that is the benefit of retreat. By doing retreat one can discover the mistakes in one’s mind and then they can be changed, that is how realizations come.

It is just like with a seed, having soil, water, and worms, then with all the conditions, slowly a stem comes out, and after some time then the flowers and fruit. The flowers and the fruit are like the discovery, the foundation is like the clearing of the ground before you plant crops.

Don't worry about the money that has been offered to you. It belongs to you and the important thing is when you give teachings to not have the motivation or expectation of money offerings, to not think about that, to not think like it is a business. It is very important to not think of money offerings at all. If the thought comes about money you should abandon it, kick it out, like in football, soccer, or cricket. When I say cricket I don't mean you have to run and catch the thought, don't misunderstand me. You shouldn't kick the thought out and then run after it and catch it.

I saw on TV a man run so far to catch a ball that he went over the wall and his head hit the ground. So, this tells you that instead of doing meditation I have been watching TV. I am giving you this information because you didn't have TV in your retreat, except the TV in your mind, that was showing karma and many things. So, if that thought enters then it will be like doing business.

You can use the money to build a retreat cabin, or for traveling to teachings. You can do whatever you want with the money. Or you can use it to eat chocolate ice cream. You can eat half and leave the other half for another person... I'm just teasing. Or you can divide the chocolate ice cream into four, so one is for me, one for your friend, one for your enemy, and the fourth is for you.

It is extremely good to do retreat again and again. The fact that you have the desire to do long retreat means usually that what you did is effective. If your mind gets bored or isn’t interested in doing long retreat then it means the retreat hasn't been very good.

We can discuss what to do later. For now, travel around giving teachings for a while, then we can discuss again. Also, sometimes the answer might come out in your heart.

With much love and prayers...

You should first go home to make your parents happy, then come back to the retreat center. A nun who is on retreat there was an abbess in a Chinese nunnery in California and it might be helpful for you to study lamrim with her.

The following pujas and retreat should be done to remove life obstacles:

1. Recitation of the long, middle, and short versions of the Prajnaparamita
2. Make 40,000 tsa-tsas urgently!
3. Do a long life mantra retreat: recite 400,000 mantras

As I made the observation, the result did not come out good for you to go to either of the two centers in America. For the time being, it is best to return to Kopan Monastery. The best result, shown through observation, is to return to Kopan and continue to teach the monks there. Let’s do that for about a year, and then where would be more beneficial can be checked again. In fact, I personally feel that it would be most beneficial if you continue to teach the monks, because you can teach them more extensively and profoundly, with various skills, such as debate, etc, which you have studied extremely well for such a long period.

I personally feel that’s the best and most beneficial thing, too, and I consider that would be the most meaningful use of your precious human life. Khenrinpoche Lama Lhundrup has also expressed his wish for you to be there with him, and he believes that you would be the teacher to support him in educating the monks at Kopan. In that way, it would be the best service to the guru.

It is said in the Fifty Stanzas of Guru Devotion that if the guru is pleased, that is the best method to purify negativities and accumulate extensive merit, and one will be able to receive the common and excellent blessings within this very lifetime. As there is no other precious birth than this, I advise you to make the best use of it. If you teach in the monastery, you will have more opportunities to do your own practice while you are educating others. Then it is like a beautiful torma, beautified with ornaments of white butter. Whereas, if you go to a foreign country, there will be many obstacles. Though you might solve one, another would occur at some time.  

This is difficult, especially if you are a Buddhist monk. You should just go there and humbly explain that you are a Buddhist and have vows not to harm others, so you cannot do the jury duty. This also an education for them about Buddhists.

Please tell her, “Tired but worthwhile.” We can be tired because we are not yet freed from delusion and karma, and our body and mind are in the nature of suffering, but in this case we are tired through benefiting sentient beings. As it says in the Guru Puja:

Even if I must remain for an ocean of eons in the fiery hells of Avici
For the sake of even just one sentient being,
I seek your blessings to complete the perfection of joyous effort,
To strive with compassion for supreme enlightenment and not be discouraged.

Guru Shakyamuni Buddha sacrificed his life, limbs, wealth, and family when he was born as a king, and his whole body for three countless great eons. He did that for sentient beings, to bring us to enlightenment. So, when you compare to that, what we sacrifice is like an atom or nothing.

Morality is the road to liberation from samsara. With morality, it´s easy. Without morality, life creates obstacles for realizations, and then it creates sufferings. It destroys realizations and causes rebirths in lower realms.

People are looking for happiness, but the method is important. Hunting and killing animals is creating suffering. Other people commit suicide; they kill themselves while they are looking for happiness. The aim for everyone is reaching happiness.

Maybe it’s not possible do it every day, but at least once a week or every two or four days we should go over the sutra looking at the benefits of the vows. This is fuel and gives us energy. It is very important. It makes the mind strong, directs the mind to be strong, and strengthens the mind of renunciation.

The more you see the benefits and advantages, the more you enjoy your life as a monk. It’s like business. If you work very hard and your profit is increasing, then you will enjoy life. Or, if you think you are climbing Mount Everest, you can think of the benefits, like wealth, fame, etc. once you reach the top. So, no matter how hard times are, the ultimate benefit of morality is everlasting happiness, being totally free from oceans of samsara forever. Besides that, imagine having a human rebirth after this life through living in pure morality. In hundreds of lifetimes you’ll have the benefit of even one day of practicing morality. Imagine then the results of a lifetime of practicing morality.

So, the purer this lifetime, the more peace and happiness and less difficulties you will have. You will realize shamatha more easily when you are pure. Then, your mind can easily be stable for as long as you want. We achieve insight realization by refined analysis of emptiness, unified with shamatha. That realization makes us able to cut the root of delusions by hitting on the same point. Shamatha is like that. Morality is also important. You can compare it to a 20 million dollar-project.

Another point is that we must realize impermanence and death. Live your life and be aware of the karmic effects of daily life. Nagarjuna said that we have to remember the hell realms every day. This is very important. Then, you are very careful of course. Sojong is important, but prevention is better. The suffering of samsara is also very important.

Be aware of your hallucinations. Look at your feelings of sensual pleasure. They are also suffering, but we believe they are pleasure. We have so many hallucinations. Our own body is also an hallucination in which the “I” believes. It is 100% an hallucination made by an imprint left on our mental continuum based on ignorance. It is the same with nice songs, beauty, etc. Remember death—that you could die in a moment or a day. There are many reasons why things can happen, even in a minute. Hallucinations and projections mean “I am attached to my own view.”

We think, “This is really beautiful,” etc, but it´s totally empty; it really doesn´t exist. If you don´t practice mindfulness, then it looks like there really is a beautiful body there, then desire arises, then you think of someone’s beautiful face and that this is not only my view. However, it is only a view. In the view of emptiness, this is suffering. It´s skin, a skeleton, bones, fluid, and blood. Remember this very powerfully. Skin is also a collection of atoms, and those atoms consist of other atoms. It´s labeled. In the view of renunciation, that is all suffering. The nature of something beautiful is suffering.

With the wisdom realizing emptiness, you can see that one who is believed to be beautiful is ugly. This view can help you. Then, you see someone else who is more beautiful, and he or she is also ugly. This lessens your problems. Morality inspires you to enjoy being a monk. This is the way you have to think. It is inspiring and joyful. In relationships there are other problems: your own emotions, or your partner leaves you, etc. Remember those things; it will inspire you. A monk's life gives the most freedom to experience happiness and liberation.