Kyabje Zopa Rinpoche – 100 Million Mani Retreat at IVY An extremely rough, unedited, first draft transcript typed simultaneously with the teachings 7 March 2013 Amitabha Buddhist Centre, Singapore Talk to the Volunteers Maybe give the teaching of the Kangyur, cannot say the Tengyur. As venerable Fred, it is like tantric practice, what you will become in the future you give the the name now, what you achieve in the future is dharmakaya and sambhogakaya but you label now, you believe the dharmakaya and nirmanakaya now, you believe in that, then it becomes path, method to receive the result, the three kayas, it becomes purifying the ordinary death rebirth and intermediate state, making preparation to achieve the path time three kayas, plant seed to achieve result time three kayas, so venerable Fred. However, Amitabha Buddhist Centre really progress well, through how many years since the center started? 24 years came up but in my view it is quite rapid development, in my view. rapid development. All this due to kindness of the very beginning when we start the center, all the volunteers, old time, who was the first, Alice Chua, is here. Oh is here, I didn’t realize you were here. All the people that time, all the volunteers, so I hope as many as possible are here who served that time. Then next director who was. 1 Kyabje Zopa Rinpoche – 100 Million Mani Retreat at IVY An extremely rough, unedited, first draft transcript typed simultaneously with the teachings After that who was the president? The director? Hup Cheng: Mr. CP Lam, now Ven. Palzang, followed by Mr. Denis Lau, and then Mr. TS Wong, Ani Paldron’s husband, then after Mr. TS Wong came back to me. As far as the directors who served, all the volunteers, all the people who served at different times. So present development of Amitabha Buddhist Centre is complete result of everyone, everybody, everyone from the time of the first when the center started, then from there every director, everyone at different times who helped, from everybody’s help there is the present development, Amitabha Buddhist Centre’s came from that, so I want to say thank you very much, billions, zillions, trillions, I don’t know after that, so really from my heart I want to thank everyone. Really, you can see very worthwhile your effort that you put in the past, in the very beginning, those different people, including now, present ones, you can see the result of your effort, great benefit to the six types of sentient beings, numberless hell beings, numberless hungry ghost, numberless animals, human beings, all the living beings in the world as well as Singapore in particular, the sentient beings in Singapore, there is great benefit, so you can see the result of your effort, present and 2 Kyabje Zopa Rinpoche – 100 Million Mani Retreat at IVY An extremely rough, unedited, first draft transcript typed simultaneously with the teachings past, all the volunteers, so really something you can really rejoice in that. great benefit for sentient beings, for the teachings of buddha, that is why great benefit, and from that benefit for sentient beings, they receive benefit. Just some essence. I haven’t thought about it. Sentient beings happiness so that is why we need center. So sentient beings’ happiness come from the teachings of the Buddha. That just doesn’t mean pleasure of eating food, comfort, just temporary pleasures, eating, the house, the pleasure of eating in the house, the comfort of having money and all that, not just that, even, I think, even that comes from Dharma, even that comes from studying college, primary school, kindergarten, then college or university, that is just outside condition. If the person did have success that came, if success and happiness it came from good karma, positive action, good karma. Semjung sempa, the intention, the mental factor that accompanies the principal consciousness, the five mental factors that accompanies the principal consciousness, translated as omnipresent, but principal, that is karma, karma is not outside, it is the mind, virtuous actions, not non-virtue but virtue. So Dharma, it came from Dharma, even those happiness, having comfort, having money 3 Kyabje Zopa Rinpoche – 100 Million Mani Retreat at IVY An extremely rough, unedited, first draft transcript typed simultaneously with the teachings came from Dharma, from virtuous actions, just now I described virtuous actions, that is Dharma, virtuous actions are Dharma, actions that are virtue, that is a mental factor, semjung, mental factor. So having money, people think happiness come from money, they don’t know the cause of money, making money is going to kindergarten, primary school, college and university, general people think this is the main cause but it is just a condition, the minute you decide to get a job you get a job, the minute you want you can make money, not like that, there are people who can’t find job for years, need causes and conditions, the main cause is merit. There are people who don’t have education but plenty of money, no education but plenty of money, all their wishes are successful, that happens, but no education, but have money, there are many people like that. what was I saying? I think, maybe I shouldn’t say it, but I think even related to myself, using myself as an example, I don’t recollect, I don’t know how much merit I collected in the past, I have no idea, but in this life, I’m thinking collecting merit, I think collecting merit, then able to benefit others, able to bring benefit to others in this world, a little bit, more and more able to bring benefit to others in this world, so even just using myself as an example, I don’t know about past life, but more merit collected able 4 Kyabje Zopa Rinpoche – 100 Million Mani Retreat at IVY An extremely rough, unedited, first draft transcript typed simultaneously with the teachings to see with your eyes some benefit, not much but some benefit to the world, little by little, that is, something like that is result of collecting merit, creating the cause. Money came from Dharma, not Dharma then money, money came from where? From Dharma, virtuous actions. It came from that. merit and good karma, Dharma, is the most important, the most important than anything else, everything comes from that. you understand? That is one point I wanted to day. So sentient beings’ happiness, to receive happy rebirth, precious human rebirth which has eight freedoms and ten richnesses, all the future happiness, all the future happiness, to have happy rebirth especially human rebirth and especially the precious human rebirth which has eight freedoms and ten richnesses, has opportunity to practice not just Buddhism, the four noble truths, basic teachings, not only that, Mahayana paramita teachings, the five paths and ten bhumis, to achieve enlightenment for sentient beings, then to achieve enlightenment by collecting merit of wisdom and virtue for three thousand great eons, then with great compassion to free them from oceans of samsaric sufferings and bring them to enlightenment then need to achieve enlightenment in one life then for this practice tantra, the Mahayana tantra you practice. then kriya tantra, charya tantra, yoga tantra, 5 Kyabje Zopa Rinpoche – 100 Million Mani Retreat at IVY An extremely rough, unedited, first draft transcript typed simultaneously with the teachings mahanuttara tantra, then to achieve long life at the beginning, to live for thousand years can do by practicing lower tantra, then by practicing mahanuttara tantra with great compassion for sentient beings practice mahanuttara tantra, in this brief lifetime of not hundred years, very short life, a brief lifetime of degenerate times to achieve enlightenment for sentient beings, to be able to free sentient beings even quicker from oceans of samsaric sufferings and bring to full enlightenment. opportunity like this, this precious human rebirth is incredible incredible unbelievable unbelievable, like this. for that then you need preliminary practice pure not just morality, but pure morality just to receive human body, to receive human body need pure morality, then mentioned to practice Pratimoksha vows, eight lay vows, eight Pratimoksha vows for one day, then getsul vow and 250 vows, we haven’t, in Tibet didn’t happen the gelongma vows and haven’t yet decided the lineage of gelongma bikshuni vows, His Holiness said Theravadin bikshus and Chinese Mahayana and Tibetan, those who are learned, the geshes and the lamas who preserve Dharma, spread Dharma, the entire teachings of the Buddha they all come together and then agreed to give gelongma vow then all okay, if they all agreed then Tibetan would take gelongma 6 Kyabje Zopa Rinpoche – 100 Million Mani Retreat at IVY An extremely rough, unedited, first draft transcript typed simultaneously with the teachings vow, but until all three agree it won’t happen, His Holiness said all three come together and decide, if they agree start the lineage of the vow among Tibetan lamas. Those who preserve, the lamas, I guess, those who preserve Dharma, spread Dharma, those who do that. it is mentioned in the text who practice Pratimoksha, bodhisattva, and tantra vow, precious human rebirth living in those vows, taking and living in those vows, also past life created karma, not only Pratimoksha, not only practiced pure Pratimoksha vows but also other vows, it is mentioned like that, so we can see how this precious human rebirth we have received then taking those vows, the three levels of vows and then tantric practice, so how precious, how incredibly precious this is.