01. Introduction
2024.07.26
The NKT-IKBU is manifesting, appearing. We are a part of it. Who created this fantastic union? Our most precious spiritual guide.
The purpose of our gathering is to enjoy our special spiritual holiday. What is special? The opposite of ordinary. What does spiritual mean? We focus on inner development. We want to improve our human nature and qualities. How do we do this? By concentrating on inner development, not outer development. It’s what we need to do, urgently.
We need clear purpose. What do we want to achieve / do / experience? We need a plan. How can we get the best out of our self, and out of the time we spend together?
Who is the best holiday organiser? Ven Geshe Kelsang Gyatso. The first of these festivals was in 1992. He is with us. He is joining us, of course. What was his special New Year’s message to us?
- My mind is always with you
- I am always working with you
- I never forget you
My job is not to forget him and always live in his presence. How do we do that? By following his plans, his vision, his intentions, his actions. Every day we get closer to him by practising Dharma. If we do this, then we have a new mind, a new life, we are a new person. We can live in a pure land because our mind becomes pure.
Impure minds create impure worlds, pure minds create pure worlds. From mind comes intention, and from intention comes action. Which creates our world. So mind creates world.
We should make a determination to only concentrate on Dharma. Get some experience of our mind connected / pervaded always by Dharma. This is the perfect training ground.
Forget busy-ness. Forget worldly matters. Concentrate on Dharma throughout the day and the night. How do we practice during the night? We fall asleep with a virtuous positive mind.
If it’s not beneficial, stop.
Where do our difficulties come from? Only from our delusions. They only cause problems and unnecessary unhappiness. There is enough unhappiness in this world.
By practising Dharma we can accomplish the real meaning of our human life. No other holiday can do this.
What is the real meaning of our human life? To fulfil my deepest wish to be free from suffering and to experience everlasting happiness. We can also say, it is to purify my mind. If we have a pure mind we become a pure being, in a pure world, experiencing a pure life. We want to create inner and outer pure land. If our mind was pure here, we would see Heruka’s Pure Land. We need to decide what we want with this holiday.
Meditation means familiarising our mind with virtue. Thoroughly, and completely.
We should choose to develop and maintain a correct attitude all the time. What is attitude? Way of thinking.
We can also follow Geshe-la Chekhawa’s advice: “Always rely upon a happy mind alone.”
We’re putting our mind on a detox. We’re doing a mental diet.
By doing this we protect our self and others from a lot of problems.
Please choose pure spiritual practitioners as friends.
How do we know we know our mind is positive? When it is peaceful.
What causes delusions? Inappropriate attention. Ignorance. Self-grasping and self-cherishing. The main cause of positive minds is when we concentrate on others and not ourselves. Geshe-la said, “Think less I, I.”
Atisha said, “When we are on our own we should watch our mind. When we’re with others we should watch our speech.” With uncontrolled speech we disturb our own and others’ minds.
If we wish for others to be happy all the time we will have no problems and be happy all the time.
Make a decision, “I will never grasp at the things I normally see.”
Do you want to be a source of inspiration and happiness for others? Or a pain in the neck?