Dear Bry,
This is karma and this is the truth. You are one of the fortunate ones who have the potential for deeper insight and perhaps deeper capacity to do more with one’s life. The truth is material success DOES NOT bring real and lasting happiness. However, with that one line, I have gone against everything that society, friends, family and culture tells us. Tsem Rinpoche says in one of his teachings say that if money, career and relationships bring us happiness, then the more we get, the happier and more contented we should be.

As you had already experienced and noticed, it does not bring happiness. However, if we engage in Dharma or spirituality, the more deeper practice we do, the more contented and happier we are especially when we truly apply the Buddha’s teachings. You may not know what Dharma is and what the Buddha’s teachings are really about, therefore, I would like to encourage you to please explore Tsem Rinpoche’s youtube channel and listen to his teachings and read up on the articles on this blog especially that on the practice of Lama Tsongkhapa. Feel free to ask any Dharma questions here and go to the blogchat to interact and learn. I wish you all the best.

Dear P,
I do not think that Milarepa meant to say that the Buddha’s scriptures were deceptive. I think he meant to say that our interpretation of the Buddha’s written words are deceptive because they are clouded by our perception and lack of merit. Hence, you would notice that Milarepa did not specifically mention scriptures but used “words”. The meaning of words can mean different things to different people. Hence, do not take Milarepa’s quote literally.

In the study of the scriptures, teachings are classified into definitive and interpretive teachings. Hence, the real intent of the Buddha can only be gleaned through the words of our perfect Gurus, who received authentic training by the lineage masters and are sound understanding of the scriptures and so the real intent of the Buddha is revealed to us through the instructions and teachings of the Guru that are like “the whispers of the secret lineage” to us. I hope this helps you to clear the misconception about what Milarepa meant with that quote.

Dear A.William,
You have brought up a very powerful question and one that is not easily answered. As much as the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas would like to miraculously stop wars and bloodshed immediately but miracles cannot stop the machination of karma. The law of cause and effect cannot be undone by the Buddha. The Buddha can only point the way with his teachings and he said this himself. It is through the teachings that provides a lasting solution to aggression and violence.

You must also remember that one needs to have the karma to be saved or assisted by the Buddha. You may think that the Buddha had remained in blissful indifference but the truth is that he and other similar beings like him have emanated into various great charismatic teachers and humanitarian figures. The Buddha does not need to be a Buddhist or appear in a form that we may be familiar but appear in a form that is in accordance to our karma to assist. The Buddha may appear as ordinary beings in order to save and assist people.

Hence, many great Buddhist masters who are popularly known as great emanations of Bodhisattvas like the Dalai Lama are actively meeting people, sharing teachings, spread the message of peace and also planting innumerable powerful ‘karmic seeds’ into everyone (whether we realize it or not) he meets so these beings will eventually be able to be assisted by the Buddhas and Boddhisattvas. This may take many lifetimes but as long as the seed is planted, it will eventually come to maturity in a future lifetime that they may practice the Dharma, enter onto a spiritual path. I hope this answers your question.

Dear Tt,

This quote is from the Dhammapada, Chapter 5, Verse 60. The title of this Chapter is “Fools” or “The Childish Person”, i.e. someone who is not mature spiritually. The verse means that to those who do not know the Dharma, samsara (the round of birth and death) is long. The first line means the night is long for the person who is wide awake. There is a story behind this: Once King Prasenajit came to see the Buddha and told him that he felt that a particular night was long. Another person remarked that on the previous day he felt that the mile was long. The Buddha summed up by adding that samsara is long for those who are ignorant of the Dharma (the sublime truth).

Dear L,

When we prostrate, we prostrate to the Three Jewels (the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha) because they are the objects of refuge and spiritual support. When we take refuge, one of the refuge commitments is to regard any image (including statues) of a Buddha as an actual Buddha. Another refuge commitment is to regard all Dharma scriptures as the actual Dharma Jewel. The Dharma is the Buddha’s teachings. By making prostrations to the symbols of the Buddha’s body, speech and mind we will gain merits and purify our negative karma. The Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha have their good qualities and we must know the differences between them. The Lamrim is the essence of Buddha Shakyamuni’s teachings arranged for the step-by-step training of a disciple. It is said that the Dharma (Buddha’s speech) is the ultimate medicine for all. But protration alone to the lamrim is not enough. You must study it, understand the teachings and put them into practice.

Dear L,

When we prostrate to the lamrim, we are prostrating to the symbol of the enlightened speech of the Buddha. According to Pabongka Rinpoche in his lamrim text, “Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand”, the lamrim is to be regarded as the Dharma jewel.

The Buddha statue is the symbol of the enlightened body of the Buddha. According to H.E. Tsem Rinpoche, Buddha images represent the full enlightenment of a Buddha. The total omniscience and qualities of a Buddha is represented in any form of any Buddha (Chenresig, Tsongkhapa, Tara, etc.). When Buddhists prostrate to the Buddha and make offerings, they are paying respect to their master who has attained full enlightenment.

The benefit of physical prostration is that we will purify our negative karma and plant seeds of enlightenment in our consciousness that will be triggered open at a later date. You can read about the good qualities of the Buddha’s body and the Buddha’s speech in Pabongka Rinpoche’s “Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand” in the chapter on “Taking Refuge in the Three Jewels”.

Dear Choong, Good question. No two karma is exactly the same. So we can recite mantras by a lake and next day on our couch, the power of the benefits of the mantra ‘go to the same place’ but the karma will still be slightly different because other karmas have opened from the previous day. I hope that helps.

Dear Choong, I don’t really understand your question-sorry. But race really has no context in reincarnation as far as I understand your question.

Dear Tiago,

I’m glad you have found H.E. Tsem Rinpoche’s teachings helpful. I suggest you learn and practise the Guru Yoga of Lama Tsongkhapa or Gaden Lhagyama, which is our main practice here in Kechara House. It is a simple practice that you can do daily to increase wisdom, compassion, memory and patience. It is easy for beginners to learn. This is the link:
https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/me/tsongkapas-daily-practice-video-commentary.html. You should also read other articles on Lama Tsongkhapa to understand the benefits of this practice.

Do keep in touch and let us know of your progress. We have a weekly Blog Chat with pastors and students on Wednesdays at 10 pm Malaysian time. I hope you can join us.

Dear T,

It is said that Buddhas appear in the world when the time is right to lead human beings to enlightenment. Conditions must be right for a Buddha to appear. We are living in the Fortunate Aeon in which one thousand Buddhas will come into existence in this world. Buddha Shakyamuni was the fourth Buddha to appear. The next Buddha will be Maitreya. Before his birth, Shakyamuni was lord of Tushita Heaven. There, he decided to be reborn for the last time to show the attainment of enlightenment to the world.

Before he took rebirth, the Bodhisattva had made the five investigations: the time, the place, the country, the family and the mother. He found that the southern continent, or Jambudvipa (i.e.India)where men lived for about 100 years, was the most suitable place. The relatively short life span and sufferings of old age and death are factors that make people understand impermanence and practice the Dharma. Therefore, the right time to preach to men is when their life span is not too long nor too short. The country was Majjhimadesa (the Middle district) where the Buddhas, great disciples and universal monarchs are born. Kapilavastu was in this district. The family had all the qualities. At the time, the warrior caste in India was most respected and the lineages of King Suddhodana and his queen were pure. The qualities of the mother, i.e. Queen Mahamaya were perfect. The parents were identified by the gods.

During his life on earth, the Buddha went through the twelve significant stages and practised the paramitas as a guide to enlightenment for all individuals.

Dear Kelvin Wong,

Some sources say that a kalpa or cosmic cycle is 336,000,000 years. According to Shakyamuni Buddha, a kalpa is longer than the amount of time it would take a cube of solid granite to be worn away by being stroked lightly with a piece of fine silk once every hundred years. In theory, kalpas succeed one another ad infinitum. Buddhists believe that the beginning of the universe and of life is inconceivable since they have no beginning nor end. We always talk in terms of “beginningless time”. So since beginningless time, we have had countless rebirths, and not as humans only.

Attaining Buddhahood is the hardest thing for a person to do. It takes innumerable births to purify oneself in order to become a Buddha. It took the Buddha three aeons of practice of self-discipline, effort and determination to purify his mind. If you read the Jataka tales, you will find that he had numerous previous births and in many of those births he sacrificed himself for the sake of others.

Dear Bernard N,
As far as we are concerned, images of the Buddhas and Dharma Protectors do not attract “uninvited souls” and “inconveniences”. They actually bless any beings who perceive the sacred form of the Buddhas and Protectors.

Anyway, I will spell out a few methods that may help you in handling excess of Buddha images. One can give them away to friends and family as a blessing or one can bundle it together to be placed inside large statues or stupas. Worse come to worse, one can burn these images and before one burns these images, one can visualize the Buddha and protector forms dissolved into 3 syllables of Om, Ah and Hum. Then the 3 syllables dissolved into the syllable Ah and the Ah, red in color dissolves into our throats. With that, we visualize that the images are now ’empty’ of these beings and we can proceed to burn.

Dear Jay-r,
Rinpoche did explain once that the Buddha at some point before he became enlightened, was just like us, having to go through the human experience and thus creating various forms of karmas. The karmas led him to go through countless rebirths encompassing all 6 realms of existences, of deva (god realm), asura (demi-god realm), human, animal, spirit and hell realms.

For the Buddha, it took him 3 aeons of practicing virtues that eventually took him to collect the necessary merit to traverse the finals stage as a bodhisattva prince who eventually became the Buddha that we know today. Through his omniscient perception, the Buddha told us of many others like him. It was also due to his incredible legacy of teachings that there were many who had achieved similar states after him. Lama Tsongkhapa is one prime example and not the only one. Hope this helps you.

Dear Sing Loo,
In Buddhism, there are many methods to extend one’s life. It is believed that our lifespan is predetermined by karma. However, that karma can be altered based on the merits we accrued in relations to Buddhist long life practices.

One can engage in formal long life practices like Amitayus, White Tara, 16 Arhats, Yamantaka, Lama Tsongkhapa’s Gaden Lhagyama, etc etc. One can also extend one’s life through animal liberation, Dharma work and one of the most powerful ways to extend one’s life is when one receives monastic ordination or when one takes on the robes and becomes a monk or nun. Becoming a nun or monk is not a long life practice per se but it is so meritorious that it clears much negative karma and increases our merits, so much so that it extends our lives. The same goes for engaging in Dharma work. Therefore, the phenomenon you mentioned is not actually unusual. I hope this helps give insight to you about this.

Dear lian dong,

As far as the collection of merits is concerned, there is no difference whether we recite the Twenty-One Praises to Tara in English, Sanskrit or Tibetan. The merits are the same. The advantage of reciting in English is that you will understand what you are reciting. But even if you don’t know Sanskrit or Tibetan, it is still very auspicious to recite the Praises in the original language in which they were written. There is also a poetic beauty that is not found in the translation in English. What you can do is, when you read the Sanskrit or Tibetan version, read the English translation first so that you will have an understanding of the meaning.

Dear Die,

Ask yourself why you are in this situation. It is because you have created the karma to be in this situation and to have such experiences. So take responsibility and do not blame others for your failure. You have not described your negative thoughts and “mental obstacles” but most probably you are not facing the truth about yourself. Your description of your problems show how much you are focusing on yourself, your failures, suffering and wanting to “escape”. In other words, you want to be free from your suffering. Your emotional state makes you unhappy. But real freedom and happiness can only come from cherishing others, by giving your time, care, attention and love to them. It’s time to stop focusing on yourself and start developing love and compassion for your family, friends, colleagues and even people you don’t know. By doing so, you will find peace, stability and happiness. Happiness is a state of mind that is free from selfish emotions. Find a Buddhist centre and listen to Dharma teachings. Learn how to transform your mind in the correct way as taught by Lord Buddha and great masters. In this Blog, H.E. Tsem Rinpoche gives many teachings on how to practise the Dharma and to overcome difficulties in daily life. I suggest you read Rinpoche’s books, for example, “Peace”, “How I make Myself Unhappy” and “Be Happy”. You can buy these books from Kechara Paradise outlets or order them through http://www.vajrasecrets.com.