14. Week 2 - Teaching 11

If we examine, finally we will realise that happiness comes from mental peace, peace of mind. Without mental peace, there is no happiness. Where does this mental peace come from? Even if we try to develop this mental peace from our own side, sometimes it doesn’t work. But from time to time a peaceful mind naturally develops. Mental peace comes from Buddha’s blessings directly. This is enlightened beings’ job.

This is enlightened beings’ job. Mental peace comes from Buddha’s blessings. Enlightened beings have the power to bestow mental peace upon each and every living being without exception. In this way these beings receive temporary happiness. It can still be like artificial happiness, not real happiness. In this way I can prove that Buddhas are the source of happiness. Because happiness comes from mental peace, and mental peace comes from receiving Buddha’s blessings.

This is Buddha’s function - to transform living beings’ minds into positive or peaceful minds. When their minds are peaceful or positive they are happy. When they lose this peaceful mind they experience problems. So happiness comes from mental peace, which certainly comes from Buddha’s blessings. This proves that Buddha is the source of happiness.

There is another reason when we say that Buddha is the source of happiness. We normally say we are happy for example when we enjoy sexual activity, taking a holiday, meeting friends, eating and drinking and so forth. It indicates, as I mentioned, that our normal happiness, is not real happiness. In samsara, the cycle of impure life, there is no real happiness. It’s just a reduction of a previous problem. Happiness must come through a liberating path. To experience happiness it is very important to engage in uncontaminated actions. Happiness must come from controlling delusions. Without this there is no real happiness. How do we control delusions? Through following Buddha’s teachings. No one else teaches how to control delusions. The only method for controlling delusions is Dharma. Therefore happiness must come through Buddha’s blessings.

Guru Yoga is the special method for attaining true happiness. It is never mixed with worldly attitudes.

“I have a great amount of spiritual knowledge and some experience. I have the opportunity to improve myself. All this is due to the kindness of my SG.”

Milarepa used to think like this whenever he enjoyed he meditation, after meditation he would immediately remember the kindness of his Guru Marpa. He regarded everything as coming from the blessings of his SG. It was the same for Dromtonpa. Whatever happiness or peace he experienced, whatever spiritual experience he attained, whatever good health or happy life he enjoyed, whenever people respected him - making offerings, offering their love - everything he regards as coming from the blessings of his SG - the holy being, Venerable Atisha. Then he would say, “My Spiritual Guide, Venerable Atisha, is the source of all my happiness and goodness.”

Faith is our most important spiritual realisation. This is the main point. We can practise Guru Yoga at any time, day and night. From our own side developing faith is important.

We receive the water-like blessings on the field of our consciousness, and then spiritual realisations will quickly grow. This will happen. Even if the SG is a living Buddha, if from our side there is no faith, it doesn’t work.

Why do we need to practice Guru Yoga? Because we need to develop and increase good fortune. What does real good fortune mean? According to Dharma if we have good external conditions - wealth, position, physically beautiful, a lot of ordinary knowledge, higher education, a higher position - these are not good fortune. Real good fortune is the virtuous potentials that are the seeds of Dharma realisations. The development of real good fortune is very important. The best method for doing this is sincerely practising Guru Yoga.

It is my good fortune to have met such a precious lama, Trijang Dorjechang, Buddha Amitabha. I would try to receive his teachings whenever I could. Sometimes I had to walk many days. I had no money, no conditions. I would never think, “What will I eat when I get there, where will I sleep, who will help me?” I never thought this. I thought only, “If I receive his speech, if I hear his speech, that’s enough.” So I did like this continually. From his teachings, from his blessings, he gives me my spiritual life. It is a real spiritual life.

In this instance, on the preparation day, that night, I dreamed about him. In my dream he showed me his chest. I saw his chest - it was like light, not like flesh. He opened his chest and said to me, “Do you see, at my heart? Come here, see at my heart.” I looked carefully at his heart. I thought I could see Heruka. I asked, “Is this Heruka?” He said, “Yes.” The next morning when I wakened from sleep there was no doubt this precious lama was living Heruka. From that moment on until now I was receiving his blessings. For all my teachings of Sutra and Tantra, my lineage Guru is him. He gives me my spiritual life. Real spiritual life. I was born from him. All my teachings of Sutra and Tantra come from him. All my ability to teach, to write books, to organise, to benefit, everything comes from this lama. He is still my life, he is still in front of me.

When I deeply contemplate JT’s kindness, tears fall from my eyes without choice. I am strongly thinking again and again, how can I repay his kindness? I made a strong determination to fulfil his wish - to spread Kadam Dharma as presented in the instructions of the Ganden Oral Lineage throughout the world, and I am working very hard for this aim. This is my own experience that I’m sharing with you. When I am thinking deeply how Guru Tsongkhapa is benefiting practically, deeply thinking of his great kindness, I cry.

If I have 100 thousand students, of whom 100 attain enlightenment and become Buddhas through studying and practising the teachings, but 1 student becomes a qualified teacher, then for me that single person is more important than all the others. This is not for me, but for all the people in all the countries throughout the world. One person who becomes a qualified SG is more important becoming Buddhas. Why is this? It is because those Buddhas are too high for us. We cannot communicate with them - their body, speech, and mind are completely pure, but our mind is impure. They cannot give us teachings directly. We can only visualise Buddhas. It is difficult for us to make progress just through visualisation. For Buddhas to teach us directly we need to see them, talk to them, communicate with them. The humble qualified spiritual teacher is very useful for us because he or she is like a real wishfulfilling jewel. Perhaps that person is an emanation of Buddha, but conventionally they look just like an ordinary person, as a teacher working directly to help us. Although their aspect is that of an ordinary person, he or she is performing the deeds of a Buddha by giving clear instructions, leading us into spiritual paths, and setting a good example for us to follow. Therefore that single person is more important than those 100 Buddhas. There are already 1000 Buddhas in this fortunate aeon, but at the moment they are useless for us. What we need is a qualified teacher.

We can consider the example of Atisha. From a conventional point of view he was ordained but in reality he was already an enlightened being. According to his life story Atisha thought, “Maybe I will become an enlightened being quickly by practising HYT in the aspect of a yogi and relying upon an action mudra.” However Tara appeared to him and said, “You shouldn’t think like this. You should become a SG. You have been a SG many times in your previous lives. If you become a SG in this life you will bring great benefit to many people.”

When I was young, I used to wonder why Tara told Atisha to become a SG, when he was already an enlightened being, a Buddha. At first I found this difficult to understand, but now I understand it clearly. If we become an enlightened being like Buddha, we will be of little use to ordinary beings because it is difficult for them to communicate with Buddha. However if we remain as a humble practitioner and become a qualified teacher we will be able to benefit many people. By remaining with ordinary people, we can become their SG and help them greatly. Therefore what Tara said was correct. Atisha followed her advice and became a qualified spiritual teacher who benefited countless people in India and Tibet. From this we can understand why our spiritual teacher is more important for us than all the Buddhas. We can communicate directly with our humble SG, and he or she can act in exactly the same way as Buddha acts. Therefore in reality our SG is an emanation of Buddha.

In reality my root Guru Trijang Rinpoche is Lama Tsongkhapa, GSBH. When he disappeared, his emanations still appear everywhere. I can say sometimes, I am his emanation. I am not saying I am an enlightened being or I am Heruka, but I can be his emanation. How? Through my deep faith, his wisdom being enters into my heart. The wisdom being of GSBH enters my body, abides at my heart, inseparable from my mind. Because the wisdom being of Lama Tsongkhapa abides at my heart, my mind changes into the supreme good heart of bodhichitta. Then my actions become pure, and because my actions are pure, they are successful. In reality temporarily I can become an emanation of the wisdom Buddha Je Tsongkhapa.

In the same way, you can also become my emanation. Through the wisdom being entering and abiding art our heart we will receive special blessings. We will develop a pure mind, a pure motivation, a special good heart, and our actions will become pure. We will work solely to benefit living beings by spreading Buddhadharma exactly like enlightened beings do. Enlightened beings spread Buddhadharma. We are also spreading Dharma. Because we are doing their job, at that time we are their emanation. We are emanated by enlightened beings. When the wisdom being disappears from our heart through conditions from our side, through our developing an impure motivation, wrong views, wrong intentions, and strong delusions, we no longer receive blessings, and our Dharma activities and practice aren’t working, our spiritual development unsuccessful, and we experience problems. This is important to understand Everyone talks about emanations, but we can be an emanation. We should try to apply effort to become an emanation of Guru Tsongkhapa, and then we can do Guru Tsongkhapa’s job.

I understand this connection. So I am telling you. In reality this is not explained in our Dharma books. This is my own understanding through receiving the blessings of Lama Tsongkhapa.