The Unbelievable Benefits of Explaining Dharma
Rinpoche gave this advice to a teacher who said not many people were attending their classes.
There are unbelievable benefits of explaining Dharma, even one stanza.
It is explained by Buddha in the Sutra of the Roaring Sound of the Loving Kindness Lion, Sutra of Loving Kindness [Lion] Roaring Sound. (Tib: འཕགས་པ་བྱམས་པའི་སེང་གེའི་སྒྲ་ཆེན་པོའི་མདོ):
Filling up the great-thousand-fold universes
With gold and offering them [to the buddhas]
Cannot be compared to the benefits of
Expressing one verse of four lines [to one sentient being].
Anyone who wishes to benefit all the sentient beings in the three worlds and gives charity and all the happiness that they have to one sentient being, [compared with] explaining one verse of four lines of the Buddha’s tradition to one sentient being—this is the most sublime and extremely great benefit because it liberates the sentient beings from suffering.
If someone fills up as many buddha worlds as the number
Of sand grains of the River Ganga with the seven types of jewels
And, with an extremely happy mind, offers them to the buddhas,
And if someone else gives one verse of teaching to one sentient being,
That extremely extensive jewel charity
Cannot be compared to giving one verse of teaching
With compassion, not even in number.
Therefore, there’s no question if you think about giving teachings to two or three people, or more people—even giving one verse of teaching to them. These are just some benefits of explaining Dharma.
Please understand this and think well. Even you are giving Dharma to one sentient being, there is unbelievable merit. Of course, no question the first quotation. Then the second quotation says offering the teachings has much greater merit than buddha fields equaling the sand grains in the Ganga filled with seven types of jewels. It is most unbelievable, unbelievable.
Now you can realize how you are most fortunate, most fortunate, to be able to teach Dharma.
Also, you can think that however much Dharma you have learned, this is due to the kindness of FPMT. You can think in that way, and that it’s due to the kindness of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and other gurus.