Chapters 1-6 of Lama Zopa Rinpoche's Teachings
6. Tonglen Mindfulness
That is unbelievable. You are destroying the enemy of bodhichitta, and this allows you to have the realization of bodhichitta in your heart. It has unbelievable power. When you take on all the anger of the numberless hell beings, hungry ghosts, animals, human beings, asuras, and suras – all their anger – can you imagine it? Then you take all its suffering results. Do the same with attachment; then take all its results. All the sufferings that you receive from these beings, you take and give to the selfish mind. That is the main thing. (Lama Zopa Rinpoche)
Photo: Bill Kane, Kopan Monastery, Nepal, 2016
General Instructions on Mindfulness
I mentioned to practice mindfulness while walking. I mentioned, before, that the reason why I went through this mindfulness practice is not just to have you listen. It is not just for you to hear what I have to say, but for you to practice now, during this retreat; to get familiar with mindfulness, and also with bodhichitta. Everything has to do with sentient beings. Dedicate everything you do for sentient beings. Everything is dedicated to sentient beings, so practice now, during this time, during this retreat. That becomes the real retreat, and the best mindfulness is bodhichitta…
The idea is to really practice now. Then this becomes a good habit in daily life, you can also do it in normal life; it is unbelievable. Everything, whatever you are doing, is done with refuge and bodhichitta. Everything is dedicated to sentient beings, for numberless sentient beings; not only to your friends, family, or those whom you like, but to numberless sentient beings. That is the case. Can you imagine the motivation? You do everything for sentient beings. Bodhichitta, the mind benefiting sentient beings, is the best retreat. It is what makes the life most meaningful.
Transforming Problems with Tonglen
The most wonderful, happiest life comes only when you are able to practice when somebody criticizes you, puts you down, doesn’t respect you, or talks about your mistakes. That is the best time. At that time, use thought transformation to develop compassion, loving-kindness, bodhichitta, and patience.
You can especially use the tonglen practice; it is most important. Then, even if anger arises, you take all sentient beings’ anger upon yourself and use anger in the path to enlightenment. Use attachment in the path to enlightenment. You take all sentient beings’ anger and attachment from them, then, that totally destroys or eliminates your ego and selfish mind. Then all the results – the sufferings that come from [anger and attachment] – are taken from them and absorb into your heart, into your self-cherishing thought, there. From beginningless rebirths, the selfish mind has caused the heaviest obstacles and hasn’t allowed you to achieve enlightenment. It hasn’t allowed you to achieve liberation from samsara, and it has been an obstacle not only to your future lives’ happiness, but also to your happiness in this life. Your main enemy is not outside; it is in your heart. So completely destroy this selfish mind.
That is unbelievable. You are destroying the enemy of bodhichitta, and this allows you to have the realization of bodhichitta in your heart. It has unbelievable power. When you take on all the anger of the numberless hell beings, hungry ghosts, animals, human beings, asuras, and suras – all their anger – can you imagine it? Then you take all its suffering results. Do the same with attachment; then take all its results. All the sufferings that you receive from these beings, you take and give to the selfish mind. That is the main thing.
If it is more helpful for you, if you find it more beneficial, feel that what you take on absorbs to your attachment and your attachment is destroyed. In this way, you can use the three poisonous minds in the path to enlightenment.
Tonglen Mindfulness
Whatever activity you are doing, such as walking or working, always recite the words of a tonglen verse. For example, you can recite Nagarjuna’s words in Jewel Garland:
Whatever suffering sentient beings experience,
May it ripen on me.
Whatever happiness I have,
May it ripen on those sentient beings.
You can also recite the verse from the Guru Puja:
DE NA JE TSÜN LA MA THUG JE CHÄN
And thus, perfect, pure, compassionate Guru,
MA GYUR DRO WÄI DIG DRIB DUG NGÄL KÜN
I seek your blessings that all negative karmas, obscurations, and sufferings of mother transmigratory beings
MA LÜ DA TA DAG LA MIN PA DANG
May without exception ripen upon me right now,
DAG GI DE GE ZHÄN LA TANG WA YI
And that by giving my happiness and virtue to others
DRO KÜN DE DANG DÄN PAR JIN GYI LOB
All transmigratory beings may experience happiness. (LC95)
“Giving my happiness” does not mean only giving them temporary happiness but also includes giving them ultimate happiness, liberation up to enlightenment. You give all that to all sentient beings. By doing this, “May all transmigratory beings have happiness, especially ultimate happiness – liberation and enlightenment.”
Recite one of these verses over and over again at different times throughout the day, like reciting a mantra. Normally, people recite mantras as much as possible while walking, working or doing other activities. Similarly, here, you recite tonglen and other thought transformation prayers as much as possible; you train your mind with the words. When you do that it is most unbelievable. It so good even just to recite the words, wow!
The Power of Bodhichitta
When you receive the causes of suffering, the karma and delusions of the numberless sentient beings from each realm, as well as the results, the immeasurable sufferings for each sentient being, can you imagine the purification? Numberless eons of negative karma get purified. Negative karma from beginningless rebirths gets purified. You can’t imagine it. It is an unbelievable, unbelievable purification. Then, merits, wow, skies of merits are collected. Skies of merits are collected. Because in each realm there are numberless sentient beings and you are taking all the causes of sufferings from them and, on top of that, all their sufferings, the merits collected are limitless skies of merit, numberless merits. When you take the causes of suffering from the numberless hell beings, you collect numberless merits. When you take the causes of suffering from numberless hungry ghosts, you collect numberless merits. Then you take the causes and their results from the animals, and then from the intermediate state beings. Then you give your happiness and all your past, present, and future merits to each of the numberless sentient beings in each realm. Can you imagine, wow, how many numberless merits, the uncountable number of merits, you collect?
You collect all the results of happiness up to enlightenment, every single happiness, wow, for this life and all your future lives, then for liberation and enlightenment, and give them to the numberless hell beings, hungry ghosts, animals, human beings, asuras, and suras. Each time you do that, you collect numberless merits. To give an example, you do a practice to collect virtue and then give that to the numberless hell beings, hungry ghosts, animals, human beings, asuras, and suras. Can you imagine if you did water offerings? Or if you make charity to a beggar, you collect merits and then give these to the numberless sentient beings. You collect numberless merits by giving to numberless hell beings, hungry ghosts, animals, human beings, asuras, suras, and intermediate state beings. That one merit is multiplied seven times, can you imagine?
Now there are so many merits you collected in the past, present, and future and when you give these to each sentient being, you can’t imagine how much happiness – not just the temporary happiness of this life, but the happiness of future lives – you gain with each one. Then when you give your merits to each sentient being, with each one you collect numberless merits for liberation and enlightenment.
You give away your body many numberless times. Then with your wealth, house, and material possessions you make charity to the numberless sentient beings in each realm. You should collect numberless merits with each object, with each material thing, with each gift of money that you give to each sentient being. With each one you collect merit; just doing this practice of giving one time you collect six times numberless merits, excuse me, seven times, because of the numberless intermediate state beings. You collect numberless merits each time you do the practice, but you can do the practice again and again, so can you imagine? Tsssshhhhh. There are numberless merits by doing tonglen practice even once. Who are you giving to? To the numberless sentient beings. Whether you give them your body, house, one material possession, or one dollar, you collect seven times numberless merits; it is so unbelievable, unbelievable.
If you think of all the details it will make you faint or fall down, then you will end up going to a hospital. I’m joking, but if you really think well, the merits… It is just the most amazing practice. And this is the best practice when you are dying. When death comes, you should do that, wow. You have incredible peace when you do that, incredible inner peace, satisfaction and joy. You die with bodhichitta; this is what His Holiness the Dalai Lama calls “self-supporting death.” You don’t need other people to pray or to do something for you. Whether there are other people there or not, you guide yourself.
When someone goes for a check-up in the hospital and the doctor says, “Oh, you have cancer,” I think there are some people whose minds are so happy, because they can experience cancer for other sentient beings. It is because they get to do a very special practice and use their lives in the best way to free themselves from all past negative karma. It is so powerful. It is the quickest way to purify and collect extensive merits. Your life becomes totally special and it is a quick way to achieve enlightenment. The cancer becomes very special dynamite. The cancer becomes your dynamite practice, so powerful, to destroy the delusions and defilements, and a quick way to achieve enlightenment. It is a quick way so that you become able to liberate sentient beings from the oceans of samsaric sufferings and bring them to enlightenment. It is a quick way to benefit numberless sentient beings.
For people who see the advantage and who normally practice like this, who think in their daily lives that sentient beings and their happiness are the most important, who look at the I as being from where all suffering comes and at others as being from where all your happiness comes, their minds are unbelievably happy. They feel joy when the doctor says, “You have cancer.” Their faces, for example, become very joyful, not closed, with all the veins protruding, and feeling very depressed, very down, with their heart sunk down below the earth. For them it is not like this. There are people who see and who practice like that. Even in the West, there are those who are really practicing like that. They feel full satisfaction.
Of course, it is best when the motivation isn’t that of wanting to recover, but recovery happens by the power of bodhichitta. If pain starts somewhere and you do tonglen, the pain stops. Even before you engage in actual tonglen practice, when the mind is just about to start tonglen practice, because bodhichitta is so powerful, the pain stops. Even when you are not actually engaged in tonglen, but close to doing tonglen, the pain goes away. This is the power of bodhichitta.