Wesak 2011

(By Tsem Rinpoche)

Yesterday was Wesak Day, a national holiday in Malaysia. Malaysian Govt recognizes the important spiritual holidays of all religions…it’s beautiful. Wesak Day was the date Lord Buddha chose to take rebirth, enact enlightenment and also enter Paranirvana. It is the holiest day in the Buddhist calendar. I had the wonderful privilege to give Refuge to over 112 new members/students yesterday. They officially entered Buddhism. …I was also very happy to baptize 108 children yesterday in a separate ceremony. So many infants. The kids very cute and was able to give a lot of gifts out to the beautiful kids…I love kids….. Everything went very well.

I also announced who was selected for some private initiations I will be conferring. I was very happy to present to the gathering yesterday who I have chosen to be ordained as a pastor.

The Kechara Liaisons, staff, volunteers, friends and members really worked overtime for days for the whole event. I was so proud of everyone as EVERYTHING was so beautiful and done so elegantly. Very efficient…I am so proud of my people in Kechara and I will take care of everyone. So many people can be benefited because you all worked so hard. I just showed up, gave a teaching, refuge, baptism and left. But all of you were there for days planning the logistics, the physical work and after I left, the cleaning. I fold my hands to everyone in Kechara and congratulate you all for having such a compassionate heart expressed in your hard work.

The baby baptismal ceremony prayer used yesterday I had composed myself based on Migtseyma. Upon completion of composition immediately a very light misty rain fell twice outside my bedroom. I took this as a very auspicious sign. I will publish the text on line here soon so anyone can use it to bless a precious child anywhere in the world. It is important to bless our children and have them protected by the Three Jewels.

Upon returning to my residence yesterday, I performed a Vajra Yogini Ganachakra tsok in the late night for the spread of Dharma and may all beings receive Vajra Yogini’s attainments…. A video is coming out soon of Wesak and the talk I gave. My good wishes to everyone. I was humbled, honoured and privileged to bring dharma to so many yesterday. Even today, I feel very happy. I feel very excited and light. I wish everyone the best and supreme unending bliss.

Tsem Rinpoche

My Message to Kechara House regarding Wesak Day 2011

May everyone be happy, safe and protected. May everyone gain supreme attainments. May everyone always recognize the falsity of illusory samsaric phenomena and never be trapped again…

We have always had a throne to His Holiness the Dalai Lama since day one of Kechara’s beginning ten years ago. Before I give teachings I will always make offerings to His Holiness and ask him for His blessings that I can benefit others. Yesterday before the start of the Wesak Ceremonies/teachings, I am making offerings of Body, Speech and Mind to His Holiness’ throne here in Kechara.

Giving a talk to the baby Baptismal people. Over 108 babies/children was baptized by myself yesterday. The ceremony was short, yet profound and meaningful. The parents expressed their great love for their children by bring them for baptismal…they want their kids to be safe and protected. There was a beautiful little girl only 11 days old attending too!!!! She was so precious.

After the baby baptismal, I gave refuge to 112 new members and students. It was wonderful. I had a chance to talk more on refuge and transformation. A video was taken and will be out soon on the talk. I was very happy to give the talk as it could help people to understand everything better and change their lives. What a joy it is for me to be able to do that…

The refuge ceremony is short and powerful, but giving a dharma talk before taking refuge is most important. I stressed the dharma talk…

This is just a short write up, more pictures will be added soon..so come back here to this thread in few days…

Baby Baptismal

Baby Baptismal with Chinese subtitle (3 parts)

The Talk I gave before refuge

The Talk I gave before refuge (same as above but with chinese subtitles, 4 parts)

Transcript

I have many plans, because I’m not a “guest Rinpoche” or guest teacher. And I don’t plan on flying in, staying for a little while, giving some little rituals, initiations, some purifications, some blessings, throw some rice, and then fly back to my kingdom of snow. I’m going to be here. And I’m going to stay here. And I’m going to be here for a long time.

So the program I have in Kechara House is not “drive-thru express McDonald’s dharma”. What do I mean by “drive-thru express McDonalds dharma” is just go in there, get initiation, get a ritual, get a blessing from a high lama, and then my whole life will change, everything will be fabulous, I’ll get a lot of money and I’ll be wonderful and then no problems ever again. Well if there’s any high lamas that can do that for you, let me know, I’d like to go with you.

Problems cannot be solved by me, I’m not a god. Ok. Problems can only be solved by you and me if we have knowledge, and we understand where the problems come from. And we understand how the problems arise and we understand where the real problems come from, not perceived… not perceived source, but genuine source. If we know where the problems arise from, and we recognise it, and we apply what we have learned towards the problem, then the problems, although may still be there, but we won’t suffer.

And when we don’t suffer and we don’t get frustrated as much, and angry, and we don’t jump up and down and make noise and break things, and really just show a lot of anger, we make a lot of people around us very happy. People who throw massive anger fits, or get very frustrated, or create problems for others, or take it out on others, it’s because they themselves are suffering, they don’t know where their problem comes from. They think they know. Because if they really knew, they would be problem free.

So no religion, no god, no lama, no monk, no priest, no pastor, can take your problem and my problem away. And if anybody tells you that, I’m so sorry but you got to prove it to me first. I’ve been around for 46 years – yes I’m that young – and I’ve never seen anyone take my problem away or anyone else’s problem. But you know what, there are spiritual enlightened masters all around the world like Buddha, Jesus, Mohammed, Krishna, you name it – there are many awakened masters who at different periods of time have appeared in different existences – one is earth – who give us different beautiful messages to practice. And if you happen to like this messenger of peace, Buddha, fine! Fine.

I happen to follow this messenger of peace, Buddha. It doesn’t mean I deny all the other messengers, no I don’t. But I also know that Buddha can’t take my problems away. I also know any other messenger cannot take my problems away. Because you know why, the whole world’s been praying for thousands of years and we still have problems. I have been praying for my whole life and I still have problems. But I’ll tell you what’s the difference. The difference is this: I’m able to take my problems better, and not create more problems for myself and others, and that has been the secret.

So what I have to offer to you today and in the future. I have no miracles, I’m not Sai Ba Ba, I can’t make things manifest out of the earth, I can’t fly, I don’t have clairvoyance, I’m not a superman, I’m just a little bit better than you, because I’ve been a monk for over 20 years. But it doesn’t mean I’m a better person than you. I’m just better because I have pursued this for a long time. So what do I have to offer to you, is knowledge. Knowledge that I have acquired for the last 30 years.

You see for the last 30 to 35 years of my life, I have dedicate it to Buddha’s teachings since I was very young in Howell, New Jersey. Since I was very very young in Howell, New Jersey I’ve dedicated. I didn’t do all the things that everybody else can do around here. I didn’t do all the things that people do to have fun in their youths. I didn’t do all the things that you guys can do and then when you’re old you can do dharma. I gave up everything at a very young age to engage in dharma practice.

So seriously, at 16, 15, everything. I didn’t get my parents’ support, I didn’t get financial support, I didn’t get any support from relatives or any friends, nobody. I left home, to become a monk. I left home to find my teacher. I left home to join the monastery, and I left home to become ordained. And you know what, in December 1987 I was ordained, and I am ordained and I will stay ordained for the rest of my life.

And I have zero regrets, because now that I am THIS YOUNG, I am so glad I didn’t pursue a lot of things that my other friends pursue. Cos now a lot of them are telling me they’re depressed, they’re unhappy, their kids are monsters, they have a lot of money, they don’t know what to do with it – I did tell them to give it to me but umm they’re there, they’re just kind of stuck, no offence to anyone. I have no regrets. I have no regrets. I wished I was able to do it earlier. My point: I have pursued the spiritual path, and in this case, Buddhism.

And Buddhism is not better than any other religion but it’s the best one for me. It’s not the best one for everyone but it’s the best one for me, and perhaps some of you. Now I have pursued the spiritual journey for the last 30 years of my life. The last 30 years that’s what I have been doing. Following my teachers, living at dharma centres, living in the monastery, receiving teachings – thousands and thousands of hours I have spent at the feet of my holy teachers, below their thrones, listening to their teachings, writing notes, meditating, doing retreats. I did that. And my parents never supported me once; none of my relatives supported me. No one even dropped me a letter, years ago, “hey, we support you”. I was alone.

Am I telling you that for you to feel sorry for me? No. I’m telling you that, look, I’m serious about what I’m doing. I’m sitting on this throne, not simply because I was given a title in a monastery. I’m sitting on this throne maybe it’s because I’ve shown some sincerity in my practice and my pursuits.

So I have been sent by the monastery to come to beautiful Malaysia which I have made wonderful friends. Most of my friends are wonderful, there’s a few monsters, but most of them are wonderful. I didn’t say I’m holy schmoly either but anyway. Everywhere you go there are wonderful people that you know and a few monsters that you know. My perception of course; not necessarily true.

Now, and I’m here to stay long term. Hence the way I have Kechara House going, the way I have Kechara House operating, is different than every other centre in this country, Tibetan based. Let me explain why: because I’m here to stay, so I can give you a long term program, training, education, understanding. You see I’m not here to get money from you to build something in India. I’m not here to raise funds from you so that I can send it to Nepal, or Tibet, or some other country that you know, you will never visit. I’m here with all of you.

So therefore I plan on training people in sutra, I plan on training people in the higher teachings of tantra. In fact this year, I will start giving tantric initiations. Just the other day, with my assistant Beng Kooi, I have already picked out about 25 – 30 names that will be receiving initiations from me. Who they are, you will not know, so that there’s no jealousy. But I feel they are ready. Because there are commitments that come along with it.

And then I will be training up pastors. Why? I do not believe I’m the only one with the power, if I have any power. Ok. I believe that any of us who practice dharma, and we, and we sincerely have a good motivation, we can bless people, we can teach, we can disseminate, we can help, we can do rituals. I believe that sincerely. Why? I may have a big title, and I may sit on a big throne in Ganden monastery, but when I look at myself in the mirror, I’m just another good looking fat monk. I stress the good looking part. You see you need to subtle-ly implant that in people so they start believing you are good looking. Now, so I’m going to ordain pastors this year. I have chosen a few, we have created the uniforms and they will be lay people who can have marriage, who can have relationships; just that they will hold five lay man’s vows and they will train to study the Dharma more intently, to learn the rituals, to give teachings and give talks. Why? Because one day I will die. One day, I will go bye-bye, one day so this all has to continue.

How do we make it continue? By training up the local people. Why can we train up the local people? The local people or any people are just as good as the Tibetan, maybe even better sometimes. So therefore, I’m planning to train up pastors, definitely. I plan on ordaining people today. On the way in, I talked to one of my students who has committed that she will become a nun. Beautiful! And this time, it’s a fully ordained nun which I will send this beautiful lady to India to my teachers to receive the vows of a nun. So this year in Kechara, you’ll most likely see a nun arise and another one and another one. I had a conversation with Henry a few days ago. It’s a little private but never mind, he can sue me. I just said to Henry,” When your kids are a little older and they are getting there, I would like you to become a monk and maybe, even your wife to become a nun.” Before I can finish my sentence, Henry says,” I definitely want that, Rinpoche. I want my beautiful wife and me to end our lives doing Dharma, Dharma practice and Dharma retreats.” So Henry will send a very powerful message to everybody. We can start our lives enjoying ourselves and we can end our lives reaching heaven.

So have more people committed now. So this year I will be ordaining pastors. I have the great privilege to do that. I will give the vows myself and then in the future, I will allow the pastors to give out vows to other pastors. What’s a pastor? A lay teacher. I will eventually let the pastors give refuge, give refuge but I will teach them how. I have that plan. That’s long term. Along with that I will be initiating a few people this year into two scared practices that I received from His Holiness Kyabje Zong Rinpoche. One will be Chenrezig And this Chenrezig has an entourage of Tara and Ekazati so you get three in one. That’s a Kechara House thingy, three in one. Now, there will be initiated into Nyesungkundrol, what’s Nyesungkundrol? Let me explain.

No matter how ‘sinful’ you have been in this life, if you do this practice, it will defer to take rebirth in a negative realm for one life time. Again in your next life, you will be born in a very powerful capacity to practice to purify. So for one lifetime, you are guaranteed not taking rebirth in any of the three lower realms. That’s what Kyabje Zong Rinpoche told us. So he gave me the commitment over 23 years ago and I have not broken my commitment, not even once. I have been doing the practice every single day so therefore, it gives me the qualification to pass it on to others but it takes five to six hours to do it and once the person does it, you have to recite ‘mani’ mantra one round every day for life.

Hold your bodhisattva vows. If you do that, you’ll be safe. I will be giving that this year to a selected few. How do I select? People who take their assignments seriously, people who do their work seriously, people who do their job seriously, people who do their volunteering seriously and lastly, people who are steady and really do it; they don’t run away and they don’t make excuses. Their mind is very steady, they receive their practice. Why? Why do I look at that? Because for this practice, you need your mind to be steady. For this practice, you need to make sacrifices. For this practice, you need to give up some attachments. If you don’t give up your attachments and you don’t give up your comfort zone, how will you get higher practices? You see people have a misconception, when you get the tantric practice, then you start practicing renunciation and non-attachment. Wrong! You have to practice that before you receive the initiation. So that when you receive the initiation, it will be very smooth.

For example, do you learn how to drive when you get your new car, in your new car on the highway? No! You learn how to drive before you get your new car so that when you get your new car, you don’t smash it up. Very simple. So you don’t get Chenrezig initiation and start practicing when you get it. You have to practice before hand. I will have classes here for bodhisattva vow and there will be a video that I have already recorded that will be played on the screen here for those selected for the initiation.

On top of that, the second initiation that I’m very honoured to give everyone that I have chosen a very small group is is Trakusumchi who is renowned for arresting heart problems, incurable diseases; diseases having to do with ailments that are very difficult to heal because Trakusumchi (15:59) has a type of mantra and practice that moves your body ‘chi’ inside in such a way it will help it to repair itself.

I’ve had a few students that had serious heart murmurs and problems, after doing the practice, no more. I didn’t create the miracle. I just have the method. So therefore, Trakusumchi (16:22) will be a very powerful practice for people who have life threatening diseases or they have heart problems or they have very serious health problems and if they do this practice very well, they will heal and they will become better. That does not mean you don’t go for medical attention and medical help. It’s in combination. So I’ll be giving that in the near future this year.

If you’re a tourist that comes into the center sometimes when you’re convenient and sometimes you don’t, you don’t be chosen for that. Why? Because that requires higher training. If you’re devoted, you are part of the center, you are steady and you do what you promised. You know I don’t want to hear excuses anymore from people,” Well, you know my dog couldn’t eat my ego so I still have my ego so I’ll see you next year, Rinpoche.” I don’t want to hear any more excuses. Why? For the people who made excuses, I have got a lot of new people coming to replace you so you’re going to fall behind. Is that a threat? Yes. I know I’m not the nice traditional nice monkey monk, I’m just a monkey monk, not nice monk. I’m quite direct and quite open but I think you guys appreciate that because you know what? Sometimes the packages has no frills but inside it’s go a lot. I hope that came out right. Let me have my Coca-Cola while you watch me drink. No, I don’t drink Tibetan tea often, I like Coca-Cola. Hence, I’m a 155,000kg and some people write that on my blog. “Oh Rinpoche maybe you should slim down.” I write back,” Maybe you should mind your own business.”

I mean, you’re coming to me for Dharma, you’re not coming to me like I’m the latest couture model for Versace right? I was but not anymore, come on! I mean look at the beauty inside of me, look inside for my beauty! I want you guys to learn to look for the beauty inside. Stop looking for the beauty outside! INSIDE! Some of you are thinking,” No choice, we have to look for your beauty inside, he’s got a lot to look for.” So, I’m trying to teach everybody to look on the inner… Irene is giving me the aren’t-we-here-for-refuge look.

So I have long term plans. I will create pastors. I will create local people who will explain the Dharma from their hearts, who will give initiations in the future, who will give practices, who will give refuge. I will do that because I believe in equal opportunity, I believe and I’m here to stay long term so I don’t have to teach you all of Buddha’s teachings all in one day, one session, 2 hours, 3 hours. I’ll take my time because I’m here to stay. So therefore in our center, we have activities all throughout the week, months and years because we’re here to stay. We’re not like a center that opens once a month, once every three months or once every four months, a Rinpoche shows up, heehee haahaa, fifty people show up. They throw some rice and I got an initiation of dogi, holy rainbow. I have a rainbow body, I’m practicing Powa, Howa, Smowa (20:00-20:01) and then the hype dies. Then everyone runs to the airport to receive the Rinpoche and everybody fights to take him out and eat with him, have lunch with him and offer the biggest ‘ang pao’. Oh, you can bribe me, yes.

The Rinpoche gives blessings, throws rice and throws holy things to a very scared initiation and talks Tibetan. You don’t know what he’s saying. He could be chanting i-want-to-go home, I’m-tired. You don’t know! After he chants in Tibetan which you won’t understand one single word,” I want to go home. I want to go home. It’s so hot in Malaysia. I want to go home. I want to go home.” Then he throws rice then you go oh Jeez, that was fabulous.

You see I’m not interested in rituals and initiations just to draw the crowd, just to get the sponsors in, just to attract the money to go bigger. Yes, I need money to grow bigger. You see, I’m not a business man. In Tibet, in Buddhist countries, you sponsor the monks and you sponsor sangha, you don’t make conditions. You don’t say this way or that way, you offer up if you believe this monk can do it and the monk will do it. All this came from sponsors. All my money is controlled by my liaisons most of the time. What’s my point? My point is I need the money, I need the help. If you’re sincere, give it to me. Don’t make conditions. Don’t talk. Don’t round and round. Just give it! Give me the money. NOW! I take credit cards.

Seriously, I have long term plans because I’m going to make Dharma grow. I’m not young. I’m not old. I’m perfect right now. So if you support me now, I’m perfect. Don’t support me when I’m eighty. I can’t see you. You’re going to give me fifty million dollars? Is that rupiah? What’s the point? NOW! Now, what am I trying to say? Our center has programs all the time because we’re here to stay and our center is here to educate. Educate who? The Buddhists or people who are interested so they become better citizens in our beautiful country. That’s what our goal is.

In our center, we’re not so interested in miracles although there are miracles. We’re not so interested in people who have psychic powers. You got psychic powers? You want to have a psychic contest with me? You want to see whose third eye is open wider? Do you really want to test my psychic powers? Because if you do, I’m going to lose so don’t! I don’t have any psychic powers, you know why? Psychic powers don’t help me. Animals have psychic powers so when there’s an earthquake; animals all run away one week ahead. They know there’s going to be an earthquake. Go prostrate to a beaver? You have psychic powers and I take refuge in beaver.

I mean, animals can run away when there’s an earthquake, they all know. What are you? A gypsy woman from Baberia? I’m not interested in psychic powers. I’m not interested in psychic abilities. What I’m interested in is if you have a very kind heart , if you treat your wife like a queen, if you treat your husband like a king, if you’re setting a good example for your children, are you doing Dharma work, are you charity work, are you helping the people who are under privileged. That’s what I’m interested and that’s what Buddhism is all about.

It doesn’t mean Buddhist teachers and masters and Buddhist people don’t have spiritual power, there is. I know my teachers did, I saw with my own eyes. I know they do but you see, that’s not what I’m here to teach. Because I don’t want a room full of people walk in saying,” I can see spirits.” And you’re neighbour here is like,” I can talk to animals.” And the other guys behind is like,” I can float.” And the one in front is like,” I can control the weather.” The whole room’s talking. It’s like it’s some kind of weird clairvoyance convention. Clairvoyance is not bad, it doesn’t not exist. It exists but right now at our level, you know what we need? We need peace. We need peace. We need to know how to solve our problems. We need to have a good outlook on the people around us. We need to make people around us happy. We need to make ourselves very happy. We need to build those qualities, that’s what we really need.

So, therefore if you’re interested developing good qualities, understanding the Dharma and knowing how to approach yourself and others in a much better way, not that you’re bad, then you’re at the right center. If you’re interested in poa, flying to another planet, psychic powers and all that, you’re at the wrong center. Why you’re at the wrong center? Because here, we want to develop genuine compassionate people who love the earth, who love the animals, who love each other, who respect their parents, who respect elders, who are law abiding citizens; that’s what we want.

Yes, you can do it in another way, you can do it your own way and you can do it without us. Of course you can. This is not the only way but that’s what our intent is in Kechara House. I’m not here to convert the whole country in Buddhism. No, I’m not here to do that. Being a Buddhist by name is more detrimental than not being a Buddhist. So, I have long term plans and I want to build huge retreat center in this country where we can go up there and practice alternative healings, alternative art and alternative relaxations. I want it to be educational, not to convert the place but to convert materialism into something deeper. I want to create that place.

We got a beautiful piece of land. Yeah, it’s a little secret but the secret is out. We’ve got a beautiful piece of land not far from here. I forgot, don’t ask me the name of the area. Was it Kenny Hills? Was it Bangsar? Was it Damansara Heights? The real Damansara. Let me see, I can’t remember. Somewhere wonderful! We’ve got a little piece of land and we plan on moving this whole organization to that piece of land. We plan on building a few stories because we’re going to move all the departments there and we’re going to have our Gompa there, our chapel there and our Vajrayogini stuff there in the city. We want to build this huge Gompa, like this but much bigger to suit more people. To have a bigger hall because we can fit anymore. We want to be there and we want to have different departments.

We want to feed the poor, we want to take care, we want to expand. We want to do that, we got that piece of land and right now, we don’t have any money for it and trust me when I talk to Setrap, he goes like this to me (turns head away) because all I ask for is money. That’s why he’s so pissed off, look! Alright, I won’t talk to you today! He’ll always give me the ‘it’ll come, it’ll come, just wait.’ Just kidding, don’t get me! Yeah, I want to build that and I have 19 beautiful liaisons who are totally dedicated, full-time to Dharma work, who will build this place for us. But we go one tiny problem, we looked in our bank account, it was zero but it’s okay, it’s never stopped us before.

So, why I’m talking about this? Because a little later we’ll be passing our little baskets to you but in our case, we don’t pass baskets like in a church, we pass a bucket. Fill it up! Well, when I get money, when and if I get money, that’s the next project I’ll do. I’ll build up this place and move this organization to that place because it’s too small, it’s way too small; traffic and all that stuff. We’ll move there and we’ll have all our departments there and that’s what I really want to do. You see, what I want to do with the rest of my life is do Dharma. That I can sincerely tell you. All the others, all jokes aside, this is what I want to do.

Now, I’m here to stay. I’m here to have a program that’s long term and I’m here to look for long term people who want to join a long term program of spirituality. I’m not looking for people who want instant initiation and everything’s fine. See, our center is different from other centers, there’s nothing wrong with other centers, nothing wrong. Our center is different from other centers because they don’t have a resident teacher with the deepest respect. Therefore when a teacher comes, they got to fit in the whole program and at the end of the program, the teacher faints so they faint and everybody faints. Here, we take our sweet time, sleep at 10 and wake up at 6, do our meditation, come here and do our thing. We’re very holy. Please don’t laugh that loud. You know what they say, the more you say, it becomes the truth.

Now, that’s what our center’s about. That’s the difference in our centers. People always ask,” How come Kechara grows so fast? How come it’s so phenomenal? How come it’s expanding so much?” Because I think people are realizing we’re here to stay. We’re here to have a long term program. We’re here to create spiritual people. We’re not out to convert people but we’re here to create spiritual people who are interested. We have over 110 full time staff and those are the people have the fortune and privilege to work for Dharma and work to serve others. Any other job cannot be compared, any of the jobs cannot be compared. So therefore today is three holidays in one. Anyone or everyone who has studied Buddhism a little bit will understand a fully enlightened mind, an awaken being. An awaken being and an enlightened being has full control of where they will go, stay and abide. Shakyamuni was no diffterent. Tsongkhapa was no different.

When you arrest the full potential of your mind, you will control your destiny. No God, gods, deities or person will control your destiny, they could never control your destiny. You control your destiny. Years ago, Buddha chose to take rebirth on purpose. Everybody knows the story and there were many miraculous signs prior to birth, during birth and after birth. Prior to birth, Mayadevi, his holy mother had so many dreams of one which was a baby elephant descending from Tushita heaven with six tusks, white with a trunk put entering her side, entering into her womb. And when it entered into her womb, she was calm and very happy. She had these dreams, these kinds of dreams repeatedly.

She dreamt the Gods of the realm of thirty-three, the gods and the demigods came down and washed her body, dressed her and prepared her for a special guest. You have to understand that she was pretty special herself right? She’s not special just because she gave birth to something special. She herself was pretty special. She had these incredible dreams all the time and before she gave birth, many soothsayers, many powerful beings at that time had predicted a superhuman will take rebirth, an awaken one, Buddha and when the time came, with no pain Mayadevi went to the salagrove (32:37). And with her right hand holding up the sala tree, Lord Buddha was issued from her right side painlessly; golden and dazzling lights. Immediately it send Brahma and Vishnu, all these gods and their entourage came down and bathed the Buddha, washed the Buddha and the earth shook 7 times as a portent of a super human being taking rebirth. It is important.

Even now, certain High Lamas take rebirth in Tibet you see those signs. It’s not a joke. I’m talking about these days. There might be a slight earth tremor. I’m not talking about the Japanese one, that one was a disaster; I’m sorry. I’m talking about a light tremor will happen in that area. Rainbows will appear on the house of the child, even today.

When he was issued for (33:37), Lord Buddha walked in the four cardinal directions and raise his hands to the sky and said,” This would be my last rebirth. This would be the last rebirth I take in samsara as a being that is not awaken and I would liberate countless before I enter parinirvana.” He chose this day to take rebirth. He chose the same day, 30+ years later (varies from different traditions, some say 35, some say 32 and some say 36) he attained enlightenment on the same day. Then at 81, on the same day he chose to enter nirvana. He gave his last teaching to his close disciples who were weeping away; the arhats and the sanghas who have grown to the thousands as he laid on his right side with his ring finger covering his right nose laying down on the side about to enter nirvana and gave the last teaching on impermanence and the cessation of suffering and he entered into nirvana.

Very high lamas today still pass away in the same manner; controlled on the right side, laying down. Last year, the year before we had one old monk in Ganden monastery. He went into early morning meditation and puja (the monks called me and told me because this old monk had passed away). He went into early morning meditation and puja, he went back to his room and cleaned his shrine (he has a small shrine) and he made fresh water offerings to the Buddha. Then he sat down in his bed, went into meditation and died.

His body did not decompose, it did not smell but from his stomach region, from the body sweat, trakpa, his body sweat thousands and thousands of small pills came out. Everybody went to get it. Those who take the pill experience some kind of happiness and some experience some kind of healing. Thousands of pills! This was just last year. Monks don’t lie. The monastery doesn’t lie. My friend has no reason to lie to me because it’s not even his teacher. They witnessed this last year.

Two years back, three years back, one High Lama also passed away in South India in the monastery. He stayed in death meditation for one month without decomposition. The Indian news came, Tibetan doctors came and Indian doctors came. They poked him to check him out and they put (I don’t know) that thing in him, there’s a heartbeat. They check him and he’s dead, no heartbeat. Can’t believe that he’s not breathing but no decomposed for one month. Then of one month sitting in meditation in death, he did this, his head droop down. Then they removed his body, washed it, put on fresh robes, cremated it and put it inside a stupa. That’s what we’re seeing today. You may not see it, you may be hard for you to believe and I’m not trying to sell you anything but I’m trying to tell you that these old men in the monastery are very different than all men everywhere.

A life time of meditation and practice will have some powerful results. Some of the monks have memorized text this long (Rinpoche shows a thick book) This thick. I have seen. This long and this thick and there’s millions of words in there. I cannot even remember one page and they can recite it from memory. Just before they pass away, you know what they say? I will be back, my parents name would be ‘this’, I will be bored in ‘this region’, I will reborn on ‘this time’ and on ‘this date’ and when I’m bored I’ll will recite this from memory to you the minute I can talk. Recognize that person as me when they can do that. The Lamas doing that now who can recite it to you from memory and then, they die.

Then when their incarnations come back, they are about 4,5 years old, they can start to speak clearly, they can recite the whole thing from memory, they never looked at it. That’s how some high Lamas are reincarnated, reinstated back. I’ve seen this kind of phenomenon. I’ve seen it. I have no doubt in reincarnation, no doubt. Now, you know what happens? It happens here too, people don’t know how to recognize it.

You know there are ghosts and spirits everywhere? Everywhere. It’s just whether you can see them or recognize them and know what to do. They’re everywhere. It’s like that. There’s reincarnations everywhere, it’s just whether you know how to recognize it. So therefore in our center, we have a few hard practices that we do. In the beginning will be Lama Tsongkhapa because that was a practice recommended to me by my sacred teachers. When I went to the Dalai Lama’s personal monastery twenty years back, I went upstairs, have audience with him, take my ordination and also go to his private monastery. He had the same (39:10) and Tsongkhapas hanging in his private monastery called Namgyal monastery. I was inspired with the certain feature. I want to have the same (39:16).

Our main practice is Tsongkhapa. And those who are able to aspire, stay and be loyal, stick with the center and really transform then, you’ll receive this practice. I won’t even begin to tell you the mysteries of this practice and the benefits and how incredibly powerful this practice is. You can Google it. You can see my blog and then, in between while you’re having obstacles, problems and difficulties, in Kechara House we have one protector, protector of Ganden Shartse from where I come from, Setrap.

For the last 600 years, Lama Tsongkhapa till now, Ganden Shartse monastery practices Setrap. All the monks practice Setrap. Every month, they do central puja. All the High Lamas, Geshes do central puja in Ganden. The central puja, all of you are privileged to do here in Kechara is from Ganden. The pujas you do here are from Ganden. I didn’t make up anything. I don’t dare make up anything because you know what? Twenty years later, you say no result, I’m dead. You guys going to have results, I might as well give you the real stuff. All the pujas you do here is from Ganden Shartse and we have a group of puja people who are learning traditional puja just like (40:40-40:41). Very powerful pujas from qualified (40:43) we invite here to teach so we have real pujas here that are done exactly the same as in Ganden. My point is what you get in Kechara House is authentic.

There’s going to be people out there who like it and there’s going to be people out there who don’t like it but you know what? It’s called life. So everything is authentic. Why? I try to believe I’m authentic so I like to give people authenticity and on top of that, people who travel thousands of miles, hundreds of miles, people make an effort so I have a responsibility for their spirituality. I must give you the real practice. Why? Because you trust me. So trust is not taken lightly. Trust should not be thrown away lightly. Trust should not be accepted lightly. Trust must be rewarded with true practice, true lineage so in Ganden Shartse, there is no doubt about the practice there. There’s no doubt of the (45:51) of the High Lamas and the Geshes I’ve received teachings from. Therefore what we learn here, I kind of mold it to suit you guys a little better because I don’t think you can learn like the monks did because it’s really tough the curriculum.

So I mould it to make it easier for you guys and it’s a little fun, spiked with an occasionally little jokes here and there because I am funny. But the essence of what I’m telling you is what I learned from my teachers, unadulterated. Why? Well, I can sound a little goodie goodie because I respect all of you, because I respect your intelligence. People out there can say anything they want about me, about the center and what we do, it doesn’t matter. You know why? Because results will prove the lineage, that’s all. So Kechara keeps growing, who cares what anybody says. What we do must be something right.

You know, I like to throw in a little joke. I was in Bangkok about ten years back and I went there without the extra luggage. I was walking around Bangkok and you know, you guys might know I’m a Madonna fan. Yes, Tibetan Lamas like music. I’m a Madonna fan. She’s my long lost sister. I’ve tried to write to her to give me some recognition. I want to wear a t-shirt that says ‘I love Tsem Rinpoche.’ She wore ‘I love Kylie Monigue’ once. So when I was in Bangkok, I was furious. I was very upset and I was fuming. Jennifer Lopez had said Madonna can’t sing. I had a Jennifer Lopez CD and I gave it away and I was very unhappy. Madonna made a press statement that time and this is real. You know what she said? “When you’ve sold 120 million albums, come and talk to me!” I was thinking,” I’m kind of like Madonna now. Kechara.” Okay, nevermind.

So, my point is… Later, Jennifer Lopez did apologize and said,” Sorry Madonna, I didn’t mean it that way, I meant it the other way.” Yeah, yeah but I did buy her CD again. You put down Madonna, I’m not buying your CD. I don’t care you’re Justin Bieber fever or whatever you are. Anyway, I’m not into kid music. I’m not into kids. There are a few people who are, who listen to kids all day. What’s his name? Justin Fever? Bieber?

Okay, now what’s my point? My point is this, the Dharma I give you is authentic. My method is developed to suit today’s people, modern mentality, lay people. You’re not monks. You’re not nuns. Hence, I kind of bring it and share it with you in another way.

When Lord Buddha passed away, the sanghas counsel who was very attained that time declared Wesak Day to be the holiest day of the year for practicing Buddhists. Those who have taken refuge in the sage in Buddha because it’s the day Buddha took birth, he chose it, the day Buddha became enlightened, he chose it. It’s the same day eighty-one years later that he chose to enter parinirvana . Talk about wow. Imagine, I’m born on October 24th, 1965. So on October 24th, 2020, I become a Buddha at a mamak stall. So all of you go to the mamak stalls and make an offering of (45:53) to the mamak stall or you paint it in gold, Tsem Rinpoche became enlightened on October 24th. Then at 2030 or 2040, Tsem Rinpoche passes away on October 24th. So Tsem Rinpoche was born on that day, he attained enlightened on that day and he drop dead on that day. He entered parinirvana. The thing is when I left my body, I was like,” Oh rats! I laid on my left side not my right side.”

So, Buddha chose that so I on this day of all days, it’s most auspicious to be a monk or nun because it’s a day when Buddha took rebirth, it was a statement; I will not be controlled by samsara anymore. When Buddha attainment enlightenment, now I will benefit others and when Buddha passed away, it was a teaching on strong impermanence; all composite phenomenon will disintegrate. Do not be attached to composite phenomenon that are made up of many many causes to form a phenomenon. Although it looks permanent, it is not. Hence if you hold on to permanence that does not exist, you will create sufferings for yourself. I repeat. If you hold on to composite phenomenon that although to the untrained mind appears permanent but is not, all sufferings arise from that wrong perception of phenomenon. The phenomenon doesn’t make you suffer. The phenomenon doesn’t create suffering, it’s your wrong perception of the phenomenon. So hence, one who is enlightened, the perception is clear, an awaken being.

So on this day, if we wish to do auspicious things like a baptism which we did earlier, we wish to give vows or give an initiation or we wish to take vegetarian vows or we wish to make a donation. I wish to donate my services for one year. I wish to donate X amount of money. I wish to donate this for the temple. I wish to do this, I wish to make dana offerings. It’s always done in this day because it’s extremely auspicious. In Tibet, on Wesak day, people make grand offerings to the Lama. I have in the past. It’s the most auspicious day to create a connection to your Lama. So therefore on this day, when we take refuge, we are celebrating Buddha Shaykamuni’s enlightenment and we are also celebrating our entrance into the same path.

So on this day when we take refuge, we are celebrating Buddha’s enlightenment and we’re celebrating our own entrance into the path of enlightenment and it’s not easy. It could be lonely. It’s very difficult because you know why? You’re going to have to fight your biggest enemy of your whole life and that’s yourself. That’s the biggest enemy. It’s yourself. You know, you may have outside enemies. You may really have outside enemies but those outside enemies arose because you didn’t fight the inside enemy.

So when you take refuge today, you are making an open acknowledgement. I will fight the enemy inside. I will conquer the enemy inside. I will with time, concentration, focus and determination root out the enemy inside. What’s the enemy inside? The selfish mind. The mind that wishes to press others down because you’re jealous. The mind which wishes to cheat others because you want to jump ahead and live a good life. The mind which wishes to steal someone’s partner away. The mind that lies and makes promises that you don’t fulfill and disappoints people so much. You know, people always say,” Oh, I broke my promise. Oh, I’m sorry. I feel so bad.”

Stop thinking about how bad you feel because you broke your promise. Think about the people who believed in you and how you have disappointed them and for you to even think about yourself shows you that the enemy is strong. So therefore, we have today our refuge. We make an affirmation to Buddha and even more so, to ourselves today in the presence of my Lama, a monk, Tsongkhapa, in this prayer hall that’s precious, holy and sacred that only positive activities are carried out. I make a sacred universal promise to myself, I will root out the enemy. I will forgive those who have hurt me. I will forgive those who have disappointed me to tears. I will continuously help people although they have taken advantage of me. I will continuously teach, live and share the right way although they may always be on the look out to harm me. Because it isn’t about them and you. It’s isn’t about the them and me, it’s about you and you.

I will forgive those you have hurt me and I will not allow them to hurt me again. Just because I forgive, I’d say,” Now you can kill me.” You can avoid those people who won’t change and want harm but it doesn’t mean you need to hold anger towards them. Let it go. You will forgive those who have disappointed you until the point you have cried, you’re hurt and disappointed because every time you do that, you’re feeding the enemy inside. I know that was very good from Star Wars. When you have a lot of anger, it feeds on the inside. A lot of things from Stars Wars was taken from Buddhism if you read it. Yoda’s face was based on (53:18) Rinpoche by the monastery. (53:21). A lot of the philosophy is from Buddhism.

Even have the part where the little munchkins running around, they are reciting Om Mani Padme Hum. What do they call in the forest? Does anybody know? Ewoks. There are dancing and there are tree ewoks. They speak Tibetan and chanting Om Mani Padme Hum. You have to listen carefully because I read about Star Wars backdrop. Steven Spielberg likes Buddhism quite a lot. Oh yes. When Yoda says feel the anger, be attached, it leads you to the dark side. Exactly what Buddha said. One’s a movie and one’s real life. You go listen to the ewoks. Om Mani Padme Hum. Om Mani Padme Hum. They speak perfect Tibetan. You do a Google and you check where that came from.

Yes. Now, stop talking about Star Wars. We’re taking refuge. What’s wrong with you clowns? You don’t meet a high Tibetan Lama and talk about Star Wars. Shame! Shame! Now, what I’m trying to tell you? When you take refuge, it isn’t just an empty ceremony. I have the refuge vows. I’ve held the refuge vows for over thirty years. I took it when I was around 14, 15 from my great teacher in Howell, New Jersey. I retook it again with his holiness the 14th Dalai Lama. I took it again with Kyabje Zong Rinpoche, renewed it. I have held my refuge vows and today when I pass you the refuge, after today you can call yourself a Buddhist.

On the refuge vows, on the basis of refuge vows in future, you can receive tantric initiations because without the refuge vows, you cannot receive tantra. And if you receive tantric initiations before from me or whoever, you must repair. You should not let it slide into the corner with cobwebs. You should repair those vows because the vows are the roots of your attainments. If you take refuge today and you are, yes I’m your teacher and yes, I’m your guru. Yes yes yes. Wonderful. That’s all very nice, you can run around wearing pictures of Tsem Rinpoche, have altars of Tsem Rinpoche and praying to Tsem Rinpoche. You can do all that. That’s wonderful! That’s fabulous! But if you don’t transform yourself, please don’t them I’m your guru. As Jesus famously said,” A tree is known by its fruit.” Very simple. I know I mix it up, I’m new age. I like it all. I respect all, listen to a few but follow one. That’s my style.

Now, when you take refuge, it’s very simple and it just takes 10 minutes, we’re going to do it. We’re going to do it. After you guys do refuge, the first action you’ll do is make offerings to the Three Jewels. I want all of you to make three prostrations and if you are 150 years old, you’re paraplegic or something wrong with your body or your knees are out, you can just simply bow. You bow to Lama Tsongkhapa and you think my guru, all the lineage masters and all the Buddhas and bodhisattvas are embodied in you.

I offer my body, speech and mind to you. I offer my body in you and in future, may I get a perfect Buddha body? I offer my speech to you and in return, I will use my speech to only benefit others. I offer my mind to you and in the future, may I have a mind of compassion, wisdom and skillful means, compassion and extraordinary strength and tolerance to benefit others? May I get this mind back? I offer my body to you in return, I want this. I offer my mind to you and in return, I want this. I offer my speech to you my Lord and in return, I want this. The ultimate return is my Lord, I do not wish to worship you on the altar as a God for the rest of my existence. I wish to be just like you, a fully enlighten Buddha. Hence, I will take refuge.

When I take refuge, I will dedicate the refuge merits to my beautiful mother; I will dedicate it to my beautiful father whether they are beautiful or not. In my case, my parents abandoned me but in my mind, I still dedicate merits to them. I’m not talking about physical beauty. Parents aren’t perfect. They try to be but they are not perfect. So therefore, I dedicate my refuge merits to my parents alive or dead. May my mother and father always have wonderful rebirths, always take rebirth in happy pleasant places and not suffer. I dedicate my refuge merits to my beautiful children who I would give my life for. May they continue to be wonderful, powerful beings that help others.

I dedicate my refuge vows to my beautiful husband who has stuck by me for years with all my diva fits and all my wanted needs and has kept me in a life of a tai tai style. I love my husband. You wish, I know. I dedicate my merits to my beautiful wife who is still beautiful even after the plastic surgery and even without the plastic surgery, I dedicate it to my beautiful wife who has stuck by me, who had beautiful kids with me, who’s been with me and who has put up with everything, put up with me and my ups and downs, my balding head and everything.

I dedicate it to my beautiful husband, my wife and if we’re divorcing our husband, I dedicate it to my ex beautiful husband. If we’re divorcing our wife, I dedicate it to my ex beautiful wife. They still deserve happiness and I also take the refuge vows today and dedicate it to all the people in my life who had done anything kind and good for me that had brought me to where I am. I dedicate it to them and really, it is very powerful that way. I also dedicate to the people who have hurt me and damaged me because they made me stronger. They made me work harder. They made me do things I didn’t think I can do because they made me stronger.

You know when we have enemies and people say bad things about you and they put you down, they hurt you and tear you apart. It really hurts and you go into your room and just cry. I do. You feel really upset. I take refuge in food when I’m upset. I learnt it from Paris. That’s what you get for staring at me.

So what happens is if you think about it carefully, I know they didn’t mean to make you stronger so when Buddha says,” I thank my enemies for making me a better person.” People always ask,” But they didn’t intend to do that so how can you thank them?” I know they didn’t intend to do that but from your side you should let go. So, my point is you dedicate your merits to them.

People ask me on Facebook a few days ago,” Rinpoche, there’s this group and that group who don’t follow the Dalai Lama and don’t follow this guru and don’t follow that. What should I do about that? Should I still be friends with them?” I didn’t answer. What’s there to answer? You see if people are ‘sinning’ and are doing the wrong thing, we don’t reject them, we must show love and compassion and teach them more knowledge because the way to turn them around is not by saying I don’t love you anymore.

The way to turn them around is by giving them knowledge. So therefore, your enemies who do harm to others and you know they do harm and they’re harmful, you should dedicate merits. Why? If they have the merits, one day they can transform. Don’t you want everybody not to suffer? Maybe not right now. Maybe you want some people to suffer because they get on your nerves but look, the best Buddhist is the Buddhist who lets go, doesn’t seek revenge and doesn’t seek harm, doesn’t seek to get anyone back because ultimately it’s karma, ultimately.

So when we take refuge, what I want you to go home (in a short while we’ll be done). When you take refuge, what I want you to remember very strongly, please if you’re a 100 years old or 50 years old or young like me, 46 or was it 45? I forgot my age. Anyways, I want you to go home saying,” I will fight the enemy within.” From today on after refuge, please with respect, control your speech. Before you say or do anything, make sure what you say is what you’re going to do. I know it’s going to be hard sometimes.

What you say is what you’re going to do, not that you just said it to look good for the moment and what you say is the truth. What you say is correct to the best of your knowledge at that time and whatever you say to others, your wife, your husband and your friends, please make sure it’s not tinged with any type of harmful intend. From our speech, we can become a Buddha. From our speech, we can create wars. So whatever you’re going to say from your mouth after today’s refuge, make sure you check your motivation. Will it harm? Will it damage? Will it hurt anyone? If it will, keep your mouth close no matter how difficult it is. You know why? You may get the satisfaction of the moment but the karma will come back and you will get very rough words in the future.

You know sometimes some of us have to experience a lot of rough words, we live with people who are very rough and say nasty things to us. Where do you think that comes from? That comes from your own mouth and the previous time. You did that to others. Causes resemble results. So why be upset when people say ugly things to you? Just say,” Okay, now I know how it feels. I’m not going to do it anymore.” So if you’re living with people who are always saying nasty and horrible things to you, you maybe holy smoly in this life but in your previous life, you were a monster. Maybe you were Godzilla. So the karma comes back.

Nothing arises from nothing. Everything arises form something. There’s got to be a cause and that’s who you bear patience. If you got mood swings, it’s probably in the past you didn’t tell things that were true so you make people feel up and down with your speech so you get incredible mood swings because of your own speech. Speech is very powerful. So therefore when you leave home today, my friends and my students, my compatriots, every word that comes from your mouth (don’t do it for one week, two weeks or three weeks) please do it continuously because with your speech you will create harmony. You will transform people’s mind. You will make people feel happy and comfortable to be with around you. You will make people feel excited to meet you and you will release them from being on guard around you, your speech. Then with your mind, your mind’s very important.

After you take refuge, do not kill. Do not intentionally kill in any way, shape or form. Do not order to be killed. Oh, I’m a Buddhist, you kill it for me. Why would you want that person to collect negative merit on top of yours? It doesn’t make sense. I’m a Buddhist, I took refuge and I can’t kill but can you kill him? Sounds a little strange to me. You don’t kill anymore. Really, you don’t kill.

After you take refuge, you don’t steal. I’m talking about white collar stealing, normal stealing, pilfering, whatever it is. You go to 7-Eleven. Oh, I’m short of money, let me steal a cupcake. Nevermind, it’s for my Dharma practice. No! You don’t do stealing in any way. Stop.

After you take refuge, no (okay, I’m going to say it. Get excited. Get ready) sexual misconduct. What does sexual misconduct mean? I have a word for sexual because I feel a bit uncomfortable sitting on a high throne like this saying that word. You make me uncomfortable. You’re all staring at me like this. You’re making me very uncomfortable. You all should cover you faces. How can he say like that? You’re all like that. Paris is like all smiley. So I’m not going to use that word anymore because you’re making me very uncomfortable. I have my own word for it. That word, and it’s ‘boobelie’. So no ’boobelie’ misconduct. What’s that? It’s very simple. You don’t cheat on your wife. But can I cheat when she’s away because she doesn’t know and it won’t hurt her? You know why I say that? Hundreds of people come and tell me and confess to me that they are cheating on their wife and is it bad that she doesn’t know? Well you can go and steal from 7-Eleven and if they don’t know, is that bad karma? Bad karma doesn’t come from whether they know or not. It comes from your act, your intend. Well, is it okay if I keep one mistress and not four? I don’t know what to do, you know. I really love my kids. I love my wife and I love my mistress. Why can’t I have both? Is there a puja? Yeah, people ask me that! They sit in front of me and ask me whether is there a puja where you can have your mistress and their wife and their kids won’t disrespect them because they found out they have a mistress. Can I do a puja? Is there a mantra?

Then I said,” You want me to give you a mantra to commit more negative karma?” What? Make you invisible man? Make your mistress invisible? They ask me that. You think it’s a joke. I’ve been teaching Dharma for twenty years and I’ve met all types of clowns bigger than me. They come with all kinds of questions. No one asks,” Hey Rinpoche, how can I develop real compassion? Or I have developed this level of compassion, what’s the next step?” They always say,” Eh, you know I get married or not?” Wrong person! Wrong person to ask. So what I’m trying to say is no sexual misconduct. You got me to say it again because you guys all excited. Stop it! This Ngau is so excited, he was sleep earlier and now when I said that word, he’s awake. Okay, so boobelie, boobelie misconduct means what? To force someone to do at inappropriate times when they are in pain, when they don’t want to.

For ladies, when they are pregnant or when they are having menses. You don’t disturb them, you respect their body functions. That’s what it says. And if you have some kind of weird diseases, you don’t pass it to other people. Live it up, I’m going to die anyways. No.

You don’t cheat on your husband. Well, my husband is a 100 years old. He won’t care anyway, whatever. Keep yourself a little toy boy. No! You can only achieve this through meditation when your face is here and your neck is there and when your face is there, your neck is there. Wait, you guys can’t do it. Powerful stuff eh? Only a Rinpoche can do this and Lou. Okay, now… Can I rape somebody?

In a relationship, what’s necessary is mutual respect because you accept them. In a relationship, you need to let your partner win. You let your wife and husband win. In a relationship, you need to listen to what the other person needs and wants and be sensitive. Stop arguing to win because when you’re alone and separated, you lose and if you’re going to hook up with somebody, wife or husband or partner, if you’re going to hook up make it the best time you can make it with them because it doesn’t last. Respect. So ‘boobelie’ misconduct is there after you take refuge. It doesn’t mean you cannot have ‘boobelie’ and I didn’t tell you, you can go and have ‘boobelie’.

Okay, I didn’t say any of that. Don’t cut this video and play it somewhere else. They see what he’s saying! They do that to me, they go on my YouTube videos, they cut up a part of what I say and they put SEE, Rinpoche is like that! And I’m like,” But but did you play the whole tape?” They do that to me. That’s what happens when you’re famous. I tweeted Madonna and she understands. I didn’t tweet Guy Richie because he hurt her.

Okay, now no lying. Lying can be intentional. Lying can be something like,” Um, did you take that apple?” And you keep quiet. You keep quiet and so when you don’t answer, you’re not lying but if you’re letting them know you didn’t take it, that’s your intention of lying. Okay, there are different types of lying. There’s a lying when someone asks you there’s 500 (1:12:04) they haven’t washed in a year and they’re dead. They asked you,” Is that person beautiful?” And you’re like,” Yes?” I mean that’s not lying, that’s saving someone’s feelings. Lying is when you have the intend to say something wrong to hurt. A deer runs that way and a hunter chases. Which way did the deer go? That way? Is that lying? No because your intend is not to harm. Don’t twist that around to all different things. You guys are very sneaky. All kinds of weird scenarios. You know what lying is and what lying isn’t.

From lying you can make your life short. From lying, you can make people mistrust you. From lying, you can create the causes to be extremely lonely in the future. Okay? The best you can. If you are a serial liar, cut it down and get help. Therapy, medicine, medication and meditation. Get tape and put it over your mouth. If you are a serial liar, you got to work on it. Then when you take refuge, no divisive speech. Eh, did you hear she got a double eye lid done? But don’t tell anybody I told you and when your friend shows up she’s like this. “Um, nobody told me about your double eye lid. I figured it out on my own.” No divisive speech to talk this way, talk this way to make people separate because you’re jealous or because you’re not happy or because you want what they have. Don’t create divisive speech. Divisive speech is one of the most powerful ways to create unhappiness. Be the peacemaker. Be the peacemaker.

Then, no hurtful speech. Speech (that I mentioned earlier) that is intend on damaging the other person. Why would you want to damage anyone? You’ve been hurt, people have hurt you. People have disappointed you. People have hit you at a place which was very sensitive. Did you enjoy it? I didn’t. Did you feel good? How did you feel about that person? How did you feel about yourself? If you didn’t like what you felt, why would you want to do that to someone else? Hurting another person or another being because you were hurt doesn’t take the hurt away and also doesn’t make the hurt better. If you’re hurting, go do charity work. If you’re hurting, go heal people. If you’re hurting, go do something beneficial for others. That’s how you might heal or find your peace.

Hurting others because you’re hurt or hurting doesn’t make you feel better. It just makes you become worse and the pain becomes bigger. It may be instant satisfaction that someone had the power to hurt someone but you know what? Power can be taken away very fast. So therefore, if you’ve been hurt and you’ve felt the pain, please always reflect on that on your meditations. Don’t hurt other people. Don’t say things that will ruin them. Don’t say things that will break their heart. Don’t say things that will disappoint them and make them feel no self-worth. Don’t say or do things because you’re jealous or you want to get pass them. Don’t do that. We have enough suffering in our life. We have enough problems in our life. Why make more? Use your speech in a way that brings another person happiness and always speak the truth and whatever you say DO IT! It’s more important to suffer doing it and fulfilling what said than to suffer later when people have lost respect for you.

Then after you take refuge, holding wrong views or wanting wrong views or hiding behind wrong views in order for your own lazy convenience because you don’t want to transform, because you don’t want to make a difference and you don’t want to make it better, because you don’t want another person to win. So, you hold on to wrong views just for the sake of argument, just for your lazy convenience and just for your comfort zone. We shouldn’t do that. We should study the Dharma. If you’re a Christian, study the Bible. Study the Koran. Study the (1:17:10), whatever your religious denomination is. Study that well and put it in your mind.

You don’t have to run around being a religious fanatic. I’m baptized, I’m saved and I can do anything I want now. No. I took refuge with his Eminence, Tsem Tulku Rinpoche and he’s the living Buddha and now I can do anything I want. I don’t think so. After you’ve taken refuge, you know what’s the right way to go if I may share? More humble. More humility. More acceptance. More learning. More tolerance for others and yourself. That’s the way to go after refuge.

You want to be a Buddhist? I’m teaching you what a Buddhist means. People say,” Oh, Buddhist is a philosophy. They don’t believe in God therefore it’s not a religion, it’s a philosophy. You know what? Whatever works. Whatever works to make you a better person. We don’t need labels. You want to believe it’s a religion? Fine. You want to believe it is a philosophy? Fine. As long you’re a good person that makes everyone around you happy and you fulfill your commitments. That’s all anybody is asking.

So what is important here? It’s not a philosophical debate. What is important is after refuge. More humility. Please study the Dharma more and practice the Dharma. Make peace and forgive. Become a better person, not immediately but with time after refuge. Attend classes. Do pujas to remove your inner obstacles. Inner obstacles are worse than outer obstacles. Then, what your mind grow better year after year. See the people around you that you bring peace and happiness to you. Then you are a true Buddhist and it doesn’t matter what other people think. It doesn’t matter.

Whether you have an elaborated altar at home and you do hours of mantras, the real mantra is battling the enemy within. Every single day and every single moment. Do not be lazy and push yourself to achieve. Whatever you say, do what you have said. Don’t make people chase you, remind you and always be honourable. Why should you be honourable? Because if you’re not you make people suffer. You make people unhappy. That’s not what religion is all about. Religion shouldn’t make people unhappy. If they twist it around and use it the wrong way, they can make people unhappy saying it’s religion but it’s not religion. I’ve made a lot of mistakes but it isn’t because I’m Buddhist, I’m made it because I made the mistakes. So therefore, after refuge, I would recommend of all you if you don’t have a personal sadhana yet (a sadhana is a transformational meditation). (1:20:00)

After refuge, I would request with all humility and enthusiasm to do the Guru Yoga of Lama Tsongkhapa every single day, cos all 84 thousand teachings of Buddha are contained in the Guru Yoga. What mantra should you recite? LT’s migtsema. Recite it well. It contains the energy of skillful.. skillfulness, wisdom and great compassion. And it’s the mantra recommended. The DL praises migtsema mantra so much, Panchen Lama wrote so much on it. Recite the migtsema daily, well. When you see animals, recite it, blow it, when you see animals blow it on them recite it let them hear, plant the seeds of dharma in their mind.

You don’t have to do 3 hours of meditation a day, you can do 10 – 15 minutes quality to transform your mind, check. And when you’re reciting migtsema, please don’t think of the sexy lady that just walked by (oops there I go again). Don’t think about that, that nice handsome man walking by. Don’t think about that, that vegetarian burger that you’re gonna have from KECHARA OASIS after this.

After you take refuge, do LT’s Guru Yoga everyday. And when you come to the part of migtsema, do a contemplation on all the people who have been kind to you in your whole life until tears stream down your face and you wish to repay their kindness. And recite migtsema according to the meditation I’ve already taught, its on youtube. And do the dissolution. If you like and you have time and you really want to make your practice totally complete, kay totally. You really want to be like a Tibetan monk. Then after migtsema, after the dissolution of Guru Yoga of LT you do Setrap’s Praise by the 5th DL. And you do his black tea, and you do his – ‘scuse me – his mantra. I’m burping cos I drank a lot of coke that you didn’t have. Anyways uhm then you do a black tea to Setrap.

And if you have extra obstacles just the Praise (phrase?) to Setrap, you do extra. And you don’t pray to Setrap remove my enemies, destroy them, you took refuge remember? You know ah make my ex wife lose and pay for it, make my ex husband learn, make his mistress die, no. You don’t do that. You know if you went for an operation went wrong, make my operation right… just go to a new doctor lah! No what you should do is, if you want to make your practice really complete, you do Setrap.

And you know what, the next year *gasp* this protector has four arms, he’s fabulous! He’s wonderful! Oh he has two horses! Even more powerful! Bye Setrap, hello new Setrap! No. Once you stick to it, once you start with it, you go all the way. Don’t jump. You can change restaurants, except vegetarian restaurants, you can change your clothes you can change your hair… right Ethan? You look like Datuk May except the hair is forward. She’s got the same hairstyle and colour but its back yours is forward. What you guys went to the same place ah. I think the guy the salon done a rush job you know Datuk was here Ethan is here *whip whip* ok no he’s cute, he’s a nice boy x2. Works very hard… most of the time. Anyway uhm do the Setrap.

Remember my friends, these are practices I brought from the monastery. One, two, three. They may look a little bit exotic and strange to you, but these are practices I brought from the monastery from 600 years of tradition LT’s own practices. All the high lamas and monks are practicing. If these 3 deities are good enough for them, they’re more than good enough for you. You guys understand? You may not know it fully, learn. So you do your practice every single day. And if you’re sick, if you’re sick, then you recite migtsema and blow it on your medicine, and visualize LT dissolving into your medicine, and then take it, it’ll be very effective.

If you feel negative energy in your house, or you feel some bad influences, or if you see some HANTUs walking around your house. And yes the hantu is not your husband, it’s a real hantu. You just do black tea and you blow “om maha yakcha tsa soha” *ffffhhhhuuuu* you visualize light clearing the place, then you’ll be fine.

Do your setrap in your office, in your home, in your place, any place you don’t feel comfortable. Some people quite sensitive, I’m not trying to raise some superstition or fears here ok. You know most Chinese people they have cheng beng. You know you bring all your stuff to the cemetery to make offerings to the dead the deceased. Whether they get it or not I don’t know but it’s respect to your lineage, that’s beautiful. Its respect. Its Chinese respecting where they came from. Nobody has the right to say whether it works or not. But sometimes the cemetery has powerful energy, before you go, you do a little black tea to Setrap and you blow your mantra om maha yakcha tsa soha x2 no that’s not me that the fan. Its making me bigger. Now before you go there, you can blow *ffhhuuu* You visualize red light around you and you go. Then you know all those funny things in the cemetery that go “wooooo” they won’t do anything to you.

Or if you’re going on a long trip, or a long journey and you’re like far away… who knows you know you’re on the plane *pffflllttthh* so what you should do, you do your mantra, you do it first. So at least when the plane goes *pffflllttthh* maybe the plane go “om maha yakcha… *pffflllttthh*” It could happen! It could happen! Then if you have a father – oh I’m sorry, I don’t mean to make a joke out of him – if he is going senile, you chant migtsema for him. Every time you see your beautiful father who is going a little off – I mean some people you know have dementia, even before they’re old. Anyways uhmm you gonna recite *migtsema* blow it on your beautiful father *fffffhhhhuuhh* may my father always have peace. It’s powerful. You see the spirit of Buddhism is to benefit others, as much as possible, to respect others, to tolerate, this is the spirit of real Buddhism, and Buddhists should practice that.

So after you’ve taken refuge, after you’ve taken refuge, I want all of you to do LT’s sadhana, short one. Some of you are already doing long mantras and a lot of mantras all this and “*gasp* how do I fit it in? How how how how?” Oh what’s another 10 mins la. Stick it in. Anyway what else do you do? You just sit there eating potato chips.

And do your setrap. If there’s somebody in your house who is not happy with your altar and practice, nevermind don’t force it there. So sorry~ and do your practice inside. Very powerful. And very powerful come do setrap together cos in the monastery once a month for two whole days from 5am in the morning to 11pm at night they do all day setrap pujas for 2 days every single month in Ganden Shartse for the last 600 years. I attended those pujas. We sit there all day 10 – 12 hours doing setrap puja meditations. And they blow the long horns, they play the cymbals and you sit there and you go “oh my god… wow~” and you look at the monk there you think he’s taking trance but actually he’s fell asleep. Anyways no, nolah! I’m the only one who fell asleep, those monks didn’t fall asleep. We do that in the monastery. Ok. So that’s what I would request.

And please, I would like… I don’t want to force my views on you, try to be vegetarian as much as possible after refuge. As much as possible. If anything, for your health, if anything. And save the lives of animals. And if you can, join one of the 13 departments to volunteer and help on a regular basis. Don’t go inside the centre and go “omg~ that person is weird this person is weird I don’t like I wanna leave”. Actually when you meet weird people, when you meet bad people, when you meet funny people, you should be even more inspired to practice the dharma deeper. People go “oh I don’t like this I am gonna leave, I am gonna go some place else ‘cause I don’t like it”. That’s wrong. You see you don’t go to a hospital and say everybody is sick so I’m not coming here. Of course they are sick, it’s a hospital! Same thing in the dharma centre, people are sick. So of course you’re gonna have all kinds of people in the dharma centre.

So if you come across strange people, don’t use that as an excuse to cover your laziness and run and don’t do something. It should inspire you to do more. Boddhisatvas and high practitioners look at the suffering of others and they feel energized. And they come up with more ways, more ideas, more methods, more enthusiasm, more passion to find a new way to bring dharma to people. Boddhisatvas. It’s a sign of a Boddhisatva. Real Boddhisatvas and real practitioners and real aspirants of enlightenment, REAL ones. In fact when they see people suffering, they see people creating problems and difficulties and trouble, instead of feeling down forever, they feel down for the moment and then they go back to the drawing board and they think what other ways to bring dharma to people. What other methods, what ways have they not explored to bring dharma to others. In fact it fuels their passion, it fuels their enthusiasm and it burns inside of them to bring dharma to others even more, because how could they let even one person suffer. How can they let one person be abandoned.

So a real Boddhisatva, a high incarnation, a high being, a being who has the qualities life after life of wishing to benefit others, who really () Shantideva’s prayer, are passionate with ideas, always never lethargic, never lazy, never sit back and just let the world ride by. They are in fact even more enthusiastic, because they will find one way or another to reach you, because that’s what they were born for, and that’s what we, you and I, should aspire to. Instead of looking at the suffering of others, and the degeneration of others, and some problems that others create, instead of feeling down, please feel up. Cos if you don’t do something, they will suffer more.

Real spiritual practioners of any religion, like Mother Theresa, the more suffering she saw – I read her book and I saw her movie in America – the more she saw suffering, the more enthuse.. in the end she admitted it, it was in TIME magazine “I didn’t feel God, I didn’t see God, I didn’t hear God, I didn’t even know if God exists, I had a lot of doubts about God” she admitted it, did anyone see that in TIME magazine? “But I didn’t lose faith in mankind” she said “I didn’t lose faith in suffering, and that’s what kept me going all these years” Mother Theresa said that. How honest and how pure. What a Boddhisatva.

So when Mother Theresa saw all the suffering in Calcutta, it pushed her to do more. She didn’t sit back and go “OMG how do I do this?!” and she was just a small teeny little nun, who had the energy of a thousand super Buddhas. So therefore, never complain that you go to a dharma centre, you don’t like this person, they treat you this way, they were rude, they talk to you like that, they didn’t show you respect, or they didn’t do their accounts correct, they didn’t do this correct, they didn’t do that correct… stop running around after refuge looking for faults! How can I help? How can I make it better?

And, and! BE! ENTHUSIASTIC! TO FIND A METHOD TO REACH OTHERS! Because if you don’t they may not have any other hope. Are you… do you have some kind of strange “savior complex”? NO! But you are a good human being. If you see a dog starving on the street how could you drive by without giving it some food, how could you! How could you.

So therefore when you see that people work so hard “aiyooh I cannot take it I gotta go to sleep by 9.30 I’m a princess” push yourself to go to bed at 9.45 for one month and then 10 o’clock and then 11 o’clock. Help. So when you see something wrong in the centre, when you see something wrong at home, when you see something wrong at school, when you see something wrong at office… let that, as a true blue Buddhist, motivate you to do more. To find method to find a way. Never be disheartened by suffering.

NEVER! BE! DISAPPOINTED! By other people’s wrong actions. NEVER! EVER! Let one person go. It’s possible. Cos that’s how we become a Buddha. That’s how we become an enlightened being. You don’t start acting like an enlightened being when you become an enlightened being. You start acting like an enlightened being before you become an enlightened being to become an enlightened being. Never! ever! Let your disappointment rule! Your! life! Because if you let it, then you have destroyed your precious human life. Let all the suffering, the pain, the lies, the intrigues and all the politics around you fuel you to find new ways to benefit others. And then you would have lived your life beautifully, and then you would die beautifully, and then you would be respected cos you deserved it, and then you would have influenced others, and then you would have used your life for something with a higher purpose than just eating, sleeping, procreating and that’s it.

Never lose your passion to bring benefit to others and find hundreds of ways, hundreds of ideas, hundreds of methods, hundreds… no matter what you have to do you will have the determination “as long as sentient beings suffer, may I remain” don’t pray to go to a pure land, don’t pray to go to Vajrayogini’s Paradise, don’t pray to escape suffering, don’t pray to leave everyone behind and you go to the pearly gates and you go to some place beautiful and everybody suffers and that’s dharma. “Amitabha can I go to the Western Paradise alone, never mind them”.

Pray to stay in samsara, pray to remain with people, pray to absorb people’s sufferings, pray and wish and make an aspiration to absorb people’s sufferings, absorb their ignorance, absorb their wrong thinking, and you may pass over your merits and wisdom to them. Pray to remain in suffering for them. And then your prayers will be real. People pray for luck, for fortune, long life, happiness, health, nice girlfriend, nice boyfriend, a trip to the Bahamas, win the 4D, get a bigger car…. That’s not prayer, that’s just aspirations of a selfish person. Prayer is when you go deep inside of you and reach something that nothing else has reached. The real you. Kindness and compassion. That’s what refuge is about.

I repeat and then we’re gonna do refuge and then we’re done. I repeat to all of you with much respect. Never let suffering bring you down. Never let your own mistakes bring you down. Never let your own laziness, and your selfishness, say “well, that’s the way I am” No. cos if you don’t like the way you are now, why would you like yourself 10 years later if you continue this… this… this method. Never be satisfied with suffering. Do something. [1:37:08]

So when the next person that is rude to you at the centre, instead of walking out going *tongue out*, you go *perky smile* “thank you!” even if you don’t mean it yet. Cos that is what spiritualism is all about. Don’t be turned off by suffering. Don’t pray to escape. Don’t pray to leave samsara. Pray to become fully enlightened and remain. Don’t pray for your selfish escapes. Whether there’s a heaven or not, let’s not talk about it right now. But there’s an existence right now and that is developing a strong mind.

So for refuge, you should think that your lama has taken on the form of LT. whether your lhama is LT or not doesn’t matter. Think that LT’s blessings coming through your lama . Think that your guru, your lama, your preceptor, your pastor – I’m your pastor right now – is LT, white in colour with a tinge in red representing great compassion, combined with great bliss, in a dharma chakra wheel, teaching the dharma and transmitting the dharma. Cos when we pray to LT, take refuge with LT the first benefit is the dharma will be understood better because his first function is to give us wisdom. Wisdom. Visualize from this hand here, a lotus opening and there’s a sword on top representing the sword of penetrative insight. It’s not a real sword you know, we’re not some communist here.

And then on this side is a lotus. That LT is the long life form his hand is like that. So that one think that his hand is moving *duuuurrrr* anybody see it move? That’s because it didn’t move! Some people are like *look here look there* if it did move it’s automated *robot sound* really some guys some people were like *look here look there* I’m not disappointed. And then he is sitting in a lotus posture. Which represents he became a Buddha not by sitting around eating potato chips doing nothing and protesting how difficult dharma is, he practice his whole life, he became a Buddha.

He wears a yellow pandit’s hat, representing all learning to be learned in samsara, he has mastered. There is no more learning, he has reached the highest point: full enlightenment. He’s wearing the robes of a monk, representing to us we should hold our refuge vows very well. Think that LT is sitting in the middle of Ganden Monastery. Surrounded by thousands of monks and you’re facing LT.

On your left side, on your left side, is your beautiful mother, whether she is alive or passed away, doesn’t matter. On your left side, is your beautiful mother, on your right side is your beautiful father, whether he was beautiful or not doesn’t matter. He could’ve been a drunk, a poker player you know, jumped off the hill in Genting and it doesn’t matter. He gave you life, you owe him something. So your beautiful father on your right, your beautiful mother on your left, and behind you are the friends and relatives and people who like you, who support you, who think you’re good, who tell you you look good although you don’t , they’re behind you.

And then in front of you are all the people you hate, that get on your nerves, that told you you look old, that told you you’re fat – oh god I’ve got so many of them. You should see my visualization in front its packed! It’s bigger than this room if I put all the people who told me I’m fat in front. It doesn’t bother me, *jiggle chin flab* see? Now, all the people that disturb you why? They’re the ones that need more wisdom, they’re the ones that need more love and special attention, they’re the ones that need help, so give them the help.

Then surrounding you are all the animals in the world, all the spirits and all the hungry ghosts, the hell beings and the god realms, they’re all in the form of humans looking at LT, taking refuge. And when you take refuge, they take refuge with you. And then when you take refuge you repeat the words AFTER Me. I know some of you wana show off your knowledge “namo guru beh namo Buddha ya namo dharma ya x2” AFTER your lamaa. [] I know I know a mantra *refuge mantra in sing song* AFTER the lamaaa don’t be a big show off I’M the lama I’M the star here! And I know some of you think “what’s that big talk about humility for the last 3 hours ?!” I AM humble it’s just that you have to recognize that I’m a star! You don’t get to see the star everyday, you’re so lucky you can be in the same room with me breathing the same air *blows into space* see? I just wana make sure you guys are awake.

Now. You’ve got a pretty door girl huh she’s very sweet she opens doors for everybody back and forth nah its ok relax lah. Not you, her! Now that one’s like “me ah?” *ahahahahah* ego~.

Ok now that’s the visualization and the refuge is this. “I accept the Buddha”, the second time “I accept the dharma”… when you say “I accept the Buddha” it means that “I can become a Buddha”, you accept yourself. The second time is “I accept the dharma” – I WILL PRACTICE THE DHARMA. The third time “I take refuge in the sangha and all beings that do positive actions”. On the third time you should think “I’ve taken refuge” and from henceforth, I will practice the Buddha, dharma and sangha, I am a Buddhist. People ask you what are you, you say “I am a Buddhist”. Some of you in this room may be here just for the lecture you don’t have to take refuge. Just because you’re sitting here doesn’t mean you take refuge, or you take anything. No. It’s freewill. And just cos you don’t take refuge doesn’t mean you’re bad people. No. So don’t feel nervous.

So after refuge you should think “I’m a Buddhist now”. And the first action of a Buddhist is to fight the enemy within. That’s the first action. And after you take refuge, then my assistants will direct you, you make offerings to LT. That’s your first action, like a new child. And please be confirmed, that you have taken refuge. Hold your vows, it’s for life. It’s not switchable, it’s not returnable, you don’t get a rebate, you don’t get a discount and you don’t get a refund. Once you take refuge that’s it. I don’t care what other person can throw water at you, you’re baptized this that nope, once you’re refuged that’s it. You’re stuck. Cos you don’t play with your spirituality.

And some of you who have taken refuge and maybe slipped a little bit on your vows, today you retake refuge to renew your vows. “Dear Rinpoche, sorry I broke up the booblie misconduct, I broke up lying, I broke up on stealing and covetousness, and I was nasty, I used my mouth in horrible ways, sorry I broke every vow I repair it today.” Yah repair. And some people think “oh, if I break my vows, then hallelujah I don’t have to hold them anymore I just broke them what.” No. If you break your vows it’s for that day, it’s not for the next day. So don’t just think that just cos you broke your vow, you’re free. The next day, and the next day you hold your vow. Example if you miss a meal today, what you never eat again ah? Trust ME I don’t believe that. I miss a meal I make up for it! No way! I mean if you miss how can you no lah!

So oh well umm and people use that excuse, they think well I forgot it today so I don’t have to do it anymore. What? No… not like that. Not like that. Ok? So be good little Buddhists. Practice, learn, do charity work. And most important, whatever you commit, whatever you say you’re gonna do, do it. Ok? I will take 3 teeny little questions, nothing too difficult ‘cause I’m not very smart.

Audience 1: Dear Rinpoche, my question is, what’s the quality to take refuge? Quality of a person to take refuge? What quality you should have then you can take refuge?

Oh you need to be rich. You need to be rich and you need to bribe me so I’ll give you the vows, and or you can just you know send me a TT and I can build my temple, or you can just give me the temple, I don’t need the money. So uhmm rich. No. The qualities of a person to take refuge is: someone who says you know what, I really want to make a difference in my life, and I want to move on further and I want take this commitment to push me, to motivate me, to inspire me to do more. Simple as that. You don’t have to be extra compassionate, extra wonderful, extra fabulous, you don’t have to be anything, you just have to be sincere. Ok? Sincere. J Any other questions? Yes.

Audience 2: Your Eminence, I would like to know why I often get very emotional as in tears when I listen to your talk or DVD?

Because I’m a Buddha J I’m a Buddha, and you’re listening to a Buddha and you have the third eye to see it that’s why you’re emotional. Go on… what else? You want to know why you’re emotional when you listen to my teachings. [Yes.] Because perhaps you’re a very good person inside and I’m saying something that touches something very deep inside of you that you know is true and you want to do more. And maybe you feel a little guilty you didn’t do as much as you should’ve. And also you would like to start but you still have your attachments that’s stopping you. All those emotions mixed up and it makes you cry ‘cause you’re being honest with yourself J [Thank you.] You’re welcome. Questions? Last question? Last teeny little question? Nothing too hard I told you I’m not too bright.

Audience 3: Rinpoche, under certain circumstances sometimes when we have to tell some white lies, is that call a lie?

I just told you, it’s not a lie, because you’re not intending to hurt. It’s ok. Sometimes I tell white lies too. I tell myself everyday I’m skinny. I do! I look in the mirror and I say I’m losing weight, I better eat more. No… honestly speaking sometimes we have to tell little white lies and I want you to know that after refuge you don’t need to be perfect ‘cause you’re not perfect, I’m not perfect, we just try to be the best we can, don’t be comfortable with just what we’ve achieved, do more. That’s the purpose. Mmkay you don’t have to be perfect.

In LT’s tradition, humility is the key word. We don’t talk about our psychic abilities if we have them. We don’t tell people about our psychic abilities, we don’t explain about our psychic abilities, and trust me, many, many monks in Ganden have psychic abilities that will blow your mind. But they will always tell you they don’t have. They will always tell you not to focus, because true spiritual power is not about clairvoyance or psychic abilities. True spiritual practice is compassion, how much you do for others, how much you have done for others is a measure of your spirituality. If you have done not much for others, no matter what psychic powers you have it’s of no use. At the time of death you lose that power.

So therefore from Ganden [1:54:55] Guru Yoga of Tsongkhapa and Migtsema you can definitely develop extraordinary experiences. You can definitely develop vispassana or clarity of the mind. You can definitely improve your memory. You can definitely remember things even when you were very young as you go on. Some of you in the past, in the future, also can start recalling previous lives if you do Migtsema well.

Nobody understands the incredible blessings that Migtsema has. But let me again respectfully tell everyone, never talk about psychic powers. Never explain or show off or say you have in any way. Always remain humble. Always remain simple. Even the DL who is the highest Tibetan monk, who is very accomplished, always tells people, “I’m a simple Buddhist monk”. He doesn’t run around telling people he has psychic powers or this. If he doesn’t, that’s an example we follow if we follow LT.

I don’t know about other people, I don’t about other traditions, other schools, they have their own beautiful correct ways, but in LT’s tradition in Ganden monastery, humility is a sign of spiritual power. Humility is a sign of spiritual accomplishments. Humility is a sign your ego is becoming less. Ok? So when you do the Migtsema practice continuously over and over into the millions, you will get experiences. Some of you you will see some of your problems healing, some of you you’ll see your anger become less, some of you will see negative energies disperse, some of you will see that animals like you more, some of you will see that you accept things better, some of you might remember or recall previous lives, some of you might find it easier to forgive people, some of you in the future might even be able to blow on an object, put it on people and help them to heal. It is possible through Migtsema, I kid you not. It is possible.

So if you take LT as your yidam, and you hold it very strongly, and you recite Migtsema daily and well, make it a commitment, incredible benefits can arise. But whatever benefits arise, as was instructed to me by my teachers, remain humble, never reveal, never talk. The objective of spirituality is to benefit others. No matter how much power, money, prestige and influence you have, if you have done not much to benefit others, it’s just talk. And talk doesn’t help anyone. I do not say this to you in disrespect, or to put you down or to assume, no. I’m telling you this is part of Migtsema’s practice. Be humble and show your spiritual power by compassion in action. And then you’ll be very happy.

It’s been a great pleasure to spend some time with you and share a little bit of dharma. I don’t know if this is the right word, but I’ve enjoyed myself tremendously. And I’m very happy to see all of you listening, absorbing , contemplating. I thank you for that. ‘Cause every time you listen to the dharma, every time you contemplate, there’ll be a shift. And when there’s a shift, from that shift you can shift someone else’s life for the better. And that’s the whole purpose of life.

Hold your vows very well, it’s on the back of this card. You will slip from time to time because you are not perfect, I am not perfect, none of us are perfect. But when we slip, let’s get up and continue. Do your LT very well, do your Migtsema very well. You don’t need a lot of practices, you don’t need a lot of mantras, you don’t need a lot of things, you just need a very good one. You need one that you follow. What makes it good is not the mantra, it’s your consistency. And no matter what sufferings come, difficulties, disappointments, come. Be spiritual and don’t let it bring you down for long. Find a beautiful, effective, skillful way, no matter how long it takes you, to help the other. Make that very strong in your mind. Remember, as long as space endures, as long as suffering beings endure, may I always exist to serve them. Think about that very strongly.

Please support us so that we can continue to bring you more Dharma:

If you are in the United States, please note that your offerings and contributions are tax deductible. ~ the tsemrinpoche.com blog team