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20081012LRGRWisdom6

(Sun afternoon Lochö Rimpoche)

(migtsema and long life prayer for His Holiness Lochö Rimpoche)

13.45

The next four verses come under the topic of the sadness the author experiences from not having heard these profound teachings from Buddha himself. But having contemplated how Buddha taught this mental anguish is removed.

42

Seeing the qualities of this teaching

Pulls [hard] from your heart,

Just like what a hook does to a fish;

Sad it is not to have heard it from you.

This verse relates to the mental sadness that Je Tsong Khapa experiences for not having had the opportunity to receive these teachings from Buddha himself. When a fish is caught on a hook, it pulls the fish out of the water. Here Je Tsong Khapa says: When I see the qualities of the teaching on dependent origination by the Buddha, Je Tsong Khapa's respect to Buddha became stronger.

He is feeling sad, recognizing the profundity of Buddha's teachings that he did not hear them from him directly.

43

The intensity of that sorrow

Does not let go of my mind,

Just like the mind of a mother

[Constantly] goes after her dear child.

Thinking about the opportunity that he did not have, the intensity of sorrow is pervasive for him, like that of a mother who lost her child.

On the other hand, thinking about the way Buddha taught, in the Perfection of Wisdom sutras and other teachings, looking into those teachings and thinking about their meaning and internally visualizing how Buddha had taught these teachings it gives Je Tsong Khapa a certain sense of joy. The next two verses are about that.

44-45

Here too, as I reflect on your words, I think,

“Blazing with the glory of noble marks

And hallowed in a net of light rays,

This teacher, in a voice of pristine melody,

Spoke thus in such a way.”

The instant such a reflection of the Sage’s form

Appears in my mind it soothes me,

Just as the moon-rays heal fever’s pains.

Thinking over how Buddha may have taught profound subjects like the Perfection of Wisdom and so forth, the image of Buddha comes to mind. Envisioning the form of Buddha and reflects about the teachings, his sorrow is soothed, just like the anguish from a hot summer day is soothed when the cool rays of the moon begin to shine. Just like that it soothes his sorrow and gives relief.

The next several verses cover one of the main topics, which is developing a comprehension of Buddha's unique system. That also falls under three headings:

1. When seeing others' misinterpretations, Je Tsong Khapa's own mode for searching the Buddha's intent

2. When looking into the varieties of Buddha's teachings, ending up with certain doubts

3. Through relying on the instructions of the teachers, finding the actual mistaken intent through the teachings of Nagarjuna.

The first point relates to verse 46 and 47.

46

This excellent system, most marvelous,

Some individuals who are not so learned

Have entangled it in utter confusion,

Just like the tangled balbaza grass.

The excellent teaching of the Buddha on the profound view of emptiness, some individuals interpreted without proper knowledge, making it more confusing. They turned it into tangled balbaza grass. That is a particular kind of grass that entangles the flowers and other plants around it. It must be like some vine that entangles the flowers and the good grass around it. Likewise, when someone misinterprets the good teachings of the Buddha, it is like this balbaza grass. It constricts the good teachings and makes them unintelligible.

Je Tsong Khapa wants to find the actual intent of the Buddha. When looking into this, coming across various misinterpretations, in that vast array of teachings, when he searches for the unmistaken intent of the Buddha, it led him to certain kinds of doubts. These are the subjects of the next two verses:

47

Seeing this situation, I strove

With a multitude of efforts

To follow after the learned ones

And sought your intention again and again.

48

At such times as I studied the numerous works

Of both Buddhist and non-Buddhist schools,

My mind became tormented ever more

Constantly by a network of doubts.

This is showing the development of Je Tsong Khapa's own insight. There was a phase of deep discomfort or torment in trying to find the actual final understanding or intent of the Buddha in presenting what is the actual reality. Looking into those teachings, where one finds different presentations of reality, following the various commentaries of different scholars, who present different modes from what reality actually is, at some point creates doubt as to the actual meaning. In that process Je Tsong Khapa consulted the texts of both, non-Buddhists as well as Buddhists that deal with the philosphical points of the four schools, Vaibasika, Sautrantika, Chittamatra, Madhyamaka, and so forth. The profound meaning of emptiness can become so blurred, when you compare the presentation of reality in such diverse ways.

There was a moment he went through when he really struggled in differentiating and coming to a conclusion about what is really the middle, free from both extremes of eternalism and nihilism as well as the emptiness that is precisely understood, an emptiness that negates neither too much nor too little. If it negates something that actually exists it is negating too much. If it does not negate that which is necessary to negate - the object of negation - in order to establish emptiness then that is the extreme of eternalism. Negating too little, it becomes some kind of reification of intrinsic existence. If you negate too much you run the risk of falling into nihilism.

That is where Tsong Khapa mentions that his mind "became tormented ever more constantly by a network of doubts". A net is a term that is used in Buddhism to indicate not only doubts but also other mistaken conceptual modes of mind. For example, the Pramanavartika, in the expression of worship, praises Buddha for "having completed eliminated the network of conceptuality".

In any case, when Je Tsong Khapa sincerely sought the final intent of the Buddha as to reality, he ran into these various interpretations and there was a moment of a deep sense of unrest, because of his inability to understand what actually was the final intention of the Buddha in terms of reality.

Allow me to make some side remarks here. In the texts, when you come across words like balbaza, etc, if one does not do a careful examination of the text, investigating the usage of terms, you can run the risk of changing the meaning of the words themselves.

Several years ago I came across a text published in Varanasi, that was the text we are looking at here: In praise of dependent origination. In that text, instead of saying balbaza zhin tu, which means "Just like the tangled balbaza grass" , they changed that into pel ba zha shintu, using a Tibetan word. That means whoever edited the text was not familiar with the Sanskrit term balbaza. Not being aware of this word, the editor must have thought that it was a typo mistake. Therefore, they changed balba into pel ba, which means ordinary. They changed za into zha, so the sentence came to mean, "like the ordinary people", rather than "like the balbaza grass". That is a huge mistake in that context. But it is confirmed that the correct term is balbaza, because the omniscient Butön traces the word to a Sanskrit origin. Such a word exists in Sanskrit for a particular kind of grass. So the editors of this text were not aware of this and tried to make it sound like something that rings nicely. But what they did does not make sense. The example and what is exemplified don't match. The grass entangles and the erroneous texts entangle the meaning. That works. But to insert "ordinary people" doesn't convey the example of entanglement at all.

That is why it is important that those of you who are writing your own works or editing the works of others, English or Tibetan, do a thorough research and review and not just rely on what sound nice grammatically. That way you can run the risk of making mistakes.

Another text known as "The Eloquent Saying of Sakya Pandita", contains a line that mentions the Tibetan word pen sel. sel is precious but somebody made a mistake in editing. The pen sel is something to see the precious jewel, but the actual words are to say that Buddha's teaching is free from flaws - like the precious jewel. The pen in that sense refers to flaws and sel is clarity free from impurities. So, when referring to the Buddha's teachings as free from flaws, that is what the meaning is.

Another text, "Letter to a Disciple" it also says that "Buddha's teaching is like the supreme jewel, free from those flaws."

But again, someone who was not quite aware of this thought that pen sel was something like a tool through which to see a precious jewel. That is obviously a mistake.

Also in "The words of truth", a certain prayer composed by HH Dalai Lama, in the very first line it says, "Through the powers of aspirations, the excellent powers of merit and prayers seeking the fulfillment of wishes", there is a word called ma me. Ma is a negative term, me with a superscribed sa over the ma means to despise. Together with the negative ma in front, it makes it "not inferior", "not to be despised", therefore excellent. But if you misread it and superscribe a ra over the ma in me. That me then means excellent. Together with the negative ma in front, it would become un-excellent.

These kinds of mistakes can happen if one is not careful. So whether you are composing your own text or reviewing someone else's, it is very important to be careful and not to distort the meaning. This is not so important to mention, but we were just talking about this balbaza grass. So I thought I mention that.

Also many years ago in Mussorie I recall a conversation with Gelek Rimpoche about the typos that do appear in the printed texts. Many texts had lots of typos. For example the Tibetan letter dha can easily be mistaken for a nga, because it looks very similar. The dha has just a slightly longer stroke. Or the na can look very similar to the dha also. At that time Rimpoche mentioned that these mistakes are at least not that critical, but if you mistake ya and ma, that can end up distorting the meaning really seriously. If you say yin instead of min it turns yes into no. That can create really a big problem.

Earlier this morning we were talking how the great treatises have a verse in the beginning that convey the content, purpose and very purpose and the relation between them. Here also, nying go with a suffix can turn into nying gö, which would have no meaning.

These are some things I just remembered and wanted to share to emphasize the need for caution that is required for people who are editing or composing texts. 56.46

The next three verses here cover the topic that is the mode of finding the intention of Nagarjuna, Nagarjuna's ultimate understanding. Through the kindness of one's guru's instructions, as explained by Chandrakirti. The lama's instructions are based on Chandrakiriti's explanations, which are interpretations of Nagarjuna's text on emptiness. This is what made it possible for Je Rimpoche to understand the very import of Nagarjuna's thought. That is how emptiness is understood correctly.

49

The night-lily grove of Nagarjuna’s treatises –

Nagarjuna whom you prophesized

Would unravel your unexcelled vehicle as it is,

Shunning extremes of existence and non-existence –

Let's take a moment here to address why Nagarjuna is referred to as one who Buddha prophesized. He is one of the pioneers, of you will, of the mahayana doctrine. This is defined as a bodhisattva in human form, an arya bodhisattva or superior bodhisattva. He was prophesized by Buddha as one who would interpret Buddha's teachings in an unmistaken way. The prophecy appears in a sutra called Lankavatarasutra, the Descent into Lanka Sutra. There it says that

"In the southern land of Be de, someone known as Shri Bikshu, the glorious monk, whose name will be in connection with nagas, will appear and remove the extreme positions of existence and non-existence. Thereby he will present the unsurpassed position of my vehicle. By attaining the bhumi known as "Very Joyful" he will ascend to the blissful pure lands."

"My vehicle" means the Buddha's own teachings. Nagarjuna was to unravel and make clear the unmistaken and unsurpassed position of Buddha's teachings. The "very joyful" is the first of the 10 bhumis of the bodhisattvas.

This prophecy clearly shows that Nagarjuna was prophesized by Buddha himself right down to where he was going to be born. In Indian poetry you will often find references to southern "bede" and eastern "bede". It is an area in South India. His name was Shri, that means glorious (Tib: pal den) and it has naga in it. So commonly he became known as Nagarjuna.

Also Tsong khapa mentioned that Nagarjuna was prophesized to be "shunning extremes of existence and non-existence". That means he would remove such extreme positions on existence and non-existence, thereby "unravelling your unexcelled vehicle", as to what is the actual position of the middle between the two extremes and this was clearly explained by Nagarjuna himself.

Therefore, understanding the import of Nagarjuna's teachings, is in accordance with Buddha's final understanding of emptiness.

Je Tsong Khapa calls this "the night-lily grove of Nagarjuna’s treatises". The "night lily grove" refers to the kumuda flower that blossoms only at night, when the moon comes out. The moon causes them to blossom. That connects to the next verse, which is about Chandrakirti. Chandra means moon. So that means that Chandrakirti's teachings further clarified what Nagarjuna had said.

50

Illuminated by the garland of white lights

Of Candra’s well-uttered insights –

Candra, whose stainless wisdom orb is full,

Who glides freely across scriptures’ space,

51

Who dispels the darkness of extremist hearts

And outshines the constellations of false speakers –

When, through my teacher’s kindness, I saw this

My mind found a rest at last.

Chandrakirti was renowned for his proper, unmistaken elucidation of Nagarjuna's very understanding. On the tantric side, he composed the commentary on Guhyasamaja, known as the "Clear Lamp", and on the sutra side his treatises on Madhyamaka, like "Clear Words" and of course the Madhyamakavatara - The "Guide to the Middle Way". Then there is also his autocommentary on that work. These are monumental texts, very definitive works in terms of elucidating the meaning of emptiness and other ultimate points.

In that way it is Chandrakirti's text that makes it possible to see the meaning of the Buddha's teachings.

These verses, 50 and 51, don't go word be word from Tibetan to English but in the Tibetan are interspersed. Verse 50 begins with the third line of the English translation

whose stainless wisdom orb is full,

Who glides freely across scriptures’ space

then: [Chandra[ Who dispels the darkness of extremist hearts

And outshines the constellations of false speakers –

then the other lines:

Illuminated by the garland of white lights

Of Candra’s well-uttered insights –

and lastly: When, through my teacher’s kindness, I saw this

My mind found a rest at last.

To make it flow better in English, the translation has been re-arranged.

His name "Chandra", like the full moon, also refers the fully expanded understanding of emptiness. Like the moon unobstructedly passes through space, similarly, Chandrakirti moves through the contents of the teachings with ease and without any difficulty.

When the moon is full and bright it outshines the lights of the stars. Similarly, the full knowledge of realization of Chandrakirti outshines the knowledge of other interpreters from other philosophical traditions, like the explanation of Chittamatrins and so forth.

There is a saying in Tibet:

In space there are the sun and the moon.

Similarly, on the earth there are the two luminaries of Chandrakirti's works: The "Clear Lamp" (his commentary on Guhyasamaja and the "Clear Words" (his commentary on Nagarjuna's Mulamadhyamakakarika - root text on the "Middle Way")

These are the two "Clears" - clear lamp and clear words by Chandrakirti.

That gives you a sense of how important Chandrakirti's work is in terms of establishing the unmistaken and proper meaning of the profound doctrines of the Buddha. Je Tsong Khapa says at the end of verse 51: "When, through my teacher’s kindness, I saw this, my mind found a rest at last." When he understood the profound meaning of Nagarjuna's writings as illustrated by Chandrakirti's work, he gained an unmistaken position with regard to reality and his mind found rest. As to the "kindness of his teacher", that refers to Manjushri, his teacher in divine form, from whom he received instructions. It also refers to his teachers in human form, which are Lama Rendawa and Lama Umapa

1.24.11 Story of Butön who heard In Praise of Dependent Origination recited by a beggar

I would like to tell you a brief story that relates to the meaning we were discussing here. In Tibet during the time of Je Tsong Khapa there was a great scholar called Bu tön Chö le Nam gyal. He was learned in Sanskrit and many of the Buddhist disciplines. He was a very renowned scholar. He might have heard of Je Tsong Khapa but did not feel that he needed to go see him and consult with him on the meaning of the dharma. He never met Je Tsong Khapa. But at one point, as he was reciting prayers in his residence he heard one those beggars who go around the country, reciting prayers and mantras. They go from door to door and people give them something.

So this beggar was reciting this very text "In Praise of Dependent Origination" by Je Tsong Khapa. As he came to Bu tön Chö le Nam gyal's door, he recited this. As he heard the words being recited he immediately became deeply attracted to them, because he recognized they were very profound words. He was thinking that this could be one of the works by Nagarjuna. The way the verses rhymed and expressed the meaning was very profound. They were dealing with emptiness and relativity. Being familiar with the general type of compositions by Nagarjuna he felt that this must be one of Nagarjuna's works and wondered which translator could have translated this into Tibetan. He kept listening and then heard the line about the "night lily grove of Nagarjuna's treatises". So now he thought, "This can't be Nagarjuna then, so it must surely be Chandrakirti's." But then he heard the line of the next verses

Illuminated by the garland of white lights

Of Candra’s well-uttered insights –

and it became clear that this was not Chandrakirti's work either. Now he became very excited to find out who composed this text. Bu tön Chö le Nam gyal was a great scholar, so just by listening to the words he could see how profound they were. He knew that whoever had composed that had profound knowledge. He ran to the door and asked the beggar if he knew who the author of this text was. The beggar said, "This is by Je Tsong Khapa and is called "In Praise of Dependent Origination". Right then Butön made up his mind that he must go and see Je Tsong Khapa to receive teachings from him. It took time to arrange provisions for the journey and when he started out and was on the road for a few days he heard the sad news that Je Tsong Khapa had just passed away. He was very sad that his opportunity to learn from Je Tsong Khapa was lost.

From this we can see how profound this text is.

1.35.38

52

Of all your deeds, your speech is supreme;

Within that too it is this very speech;

So the wise should remember the Buddha

Through this [teaching of dependent origination].

This verse covers the understanding that the teaching on dependent origination is the reason that makes the deed of speech the supreme deed of the Buddha. What makes Buddha's speech his supreme deed? That is his teaching on dependent origination.

The reason why the act of teaching is the supreme deed of the Buddha is that in order to benefit sentient beings - the Buddha's main purpose being to lead all living beings to liberation and enlightenment - the actual only means Buddha has is to teach properly what is to be adopted and what is to be abandoned. In other words he teaches about what is positive and what is negative and how to adopt and promote the positive and how to abandon and overcome the negative. When the disciples, as instructed by the Buddha, put those teachings into practice then they will become liberated. That's why teaching is the Buddha's supreme deed.

Other forms of activity, like displaying miraculous powers, are certainly helpful to help the viewers to develop a deep sense of faith and devotion, but beyond that they are not effective by themselves in leading them to freedom. That was also explained by Buddha himself in one of the sutras where he says that

The munis, (the Buddhas,) cannot wash negativities with water. They cannot dispel the sufferings of beings with their hands, like pulling out a thorn. They cannot transfer their realizations into others.

Nonetheless Buddhas help to liberate all beings. They do that by showing them the truth, the reality. They teach the profound emptiness in the context of the two noble truths and four noble truths and so forth. If the disciples understand these and implement them into their lives then they become liberated. That's why Je Tsong Khapa says that wise ones will remember Buddha for this teaching of dependent origination and develop appreciation and gratitude.

1.42.16 The remaining verses here come under the conclusion of the text.

53

Following such a teacher and having become a renunciate,

Having studied the Conqueror’s words not too poorly,

This monk who strives in the yogic practices,

Such is [the depth of] his reverence to the great Seer!

In this verse the author identifies himself, but not with his name Tsong Khapa or Lozang Drakpa, but rather by the inner qualities he possesses. Je Tsong Khapa is pointing to the fact that his own knowledge of the vast teachings of the Buddha is something that is not "too poor", that he has made effort to study the teachings of the Buddha. He also mentions that he practices the "yogic practices", which would include the practice of the union of meditative quiescence and special insight as well as the practices of the yoga of the union of bliss and emptiness from the tantric point of view. Through such practice and understanding he has great respect for the teachings of the great rishi or Seer.

54

Since it is due to my teacher’s kindness

I have met with the teaching of the unexcelled teacher,

I dedicate this virtue too towards the cause

For all beings to be sustained by the sublime spiritual mentors.

This verse is a dedication, in which Je Tsong Khapa dedicates all the virtues he has accumulated for all beings to be cared for by the teachers.

55

May the teaching of this Beneficent One till world’s end

Be unshaken by the winds of evil thoughts;

May it always be filled with those who find conviction

In the teacher by understanding the teaching’s true nature.

This verse is again a prayer for this earth to filled forever by people who understand the true import of the Buddha's teachings, all the scriptural and realizational doctrines of the Buddha. May such people fill the earth forever and in all direction.

"Unshaken by the winds of evil thoughts" - when a tornado happens it creates a lot of destruction and suffering. Like that, the erroneous conceptual minds, like those winds, create a lot of destruction and suffering. Therefore Je Tsong Khapa prays that living beings may not be shaken by these evil thoughts, but be free from them.

56

May I never falter even for an instant

To uphold the excellent way of the Sage,

Which illuminates the principle of dependent origination,

Through all my births even giving away my body and life.

This verse is a prayer to hold the Buddha's teachings without lapse even for a moment. Even at the cost of one's life Tsong Khapa prays that he may be able to uphold Buddha's doctrine.

57

May I spend day and night carefully reflecting,

“By what means can I enhance

This teaching achieved by the supreme savior

Through strenuous efforts over countless eons?”

Buddha Shakyamuni has spent eons sacrificing many comforts and enduring many hardships. Je Tsong Khapa prays that he may also spend day and night reflecting on how best he could uphold and enhance the doctrine of the Buddha.

58

As I strive in this with pure intention,

May Brahma, Indra and the world’s guardians

And protectors such as Mahakala

Unswervingly, always assist me.

This is a request for assistance to the various dharmapalas or dharma protectors. With such pure intention like Je Tsong Khapa's, he strives to uphold this teaching, he seeks the assistance from the guardians, like Brahma, Indra and so forth, but also particularly from Mahakala. There is the 6 armed and the 4 armed Mahakala, but in this particular case here he seeks the assistance of the 4 armed Mahakala, who was the personal protector of Nagarjuna himself.

This concludes the text and now we can have a few questions.

Audience: When faced with the reality of my own profound attachment to samsara I experience fear about how much I have to give up. What advice can you give for dealing with this?

His HolinessH Lochö Rimpoche: It is important to understand is that it is not about iving up worldly resources. It is required to give up attachment for things, like our possessions and so on. It is not about giving away the things, but giving up obsessive forms of attachment. In order to reduce such strong attachment to worldly resources and so forth, it is helpful to see that it is meaningless to grasp at these things so strongly. It is recommended to see all these possessions as transient, like dew drops on the tips of grass blades.

Audience: Despite an intellectual conviction about dependent arising, a doubt arises in the form of a feeling of apprehension and loss of control. Are there tools that could be helpful in that situation?

His Holiness Lochö Rimpoche: This question seems to reflect the inability to distinguish dependent origination and lack of control over the self. Even if one had control over one's activities and so forth, that doesn't mean that all those events are not dependently arising. Dependent arising doesn't prevent control over how you conduct yourself and so on. That freedom is still there. So that is compatible with the theory of dependent origination.

Audience: How can we apply the teachings on emptiness to overcome self grasping and self cherishing?

His Holiness Lochö Rimpoche: Ordinarily, when we lack the perspective of emptiness, all the appearances seem to appear to us as if having their own self position, existing in its own right. While contemplating on the meaning of dependent origination we should carefully think of how the self can only exist at any given time on other factors and so forth. This harms the position that holds the self and objects to exist from their own side. So through contemplating dependent origination, we can eliminate that mistaken position. That is eliminating the very fundamental, basic erroneous view. When that is destroyed, the other mistaken views and positions will automatically be eliminated or damaged.

Audience: As lay practitioners, how can we apply the philosophical teachings of dependent origination, for example the views of the four schools, on a practical level?

His Holiness Lochö Rimpoche: In terms of applying the views of the four schools in practical ways you don't have to try to see that each philosophical view from each tradition can be applied to your practice. It is sufficient to have some sense that the Prasangika viewpoint of ultimate reality, the actual mode of existence, that all phenomena are merely imputed by thought and designated in terms on the basis of the basis of designation. This is the superior position compared to others, like Chittamtrins who hold that there are no external objects. If you can see that this view, that all things are dependently existing, in that they are merely designated by terms and concepts, you can internalize and integrate that perspective with regards to all things, that is good enough to apply in practice.

Audience: Can you clarify the distinction between permanent and non-permanent? Are concepts such as "person", "justice", "sound", permanent?

His Holiness Lochö Rimpoche: In terms of permanent and impermanent, what appears to the mind as person or sound, is that permanent? That is how I understand your question. If you translate "concept" directly, that would be tok pa, which means "conceptual thought". So what is conceived by mind as "person" or "sound", is that permanent or not?

There are two modes of conceiving objects and persons. One is non-conceptual, like eye consciousness perceiving forms and ear consciousness perceiving sounds and so forth. These are sense consciousnesses, sensory perceptions. The objects engaged by such consciousnesses are impermanent. Sound, tables, etc, are impermanent.

What is conceived by conceptual minds, such as recollections of what we did earlier, or remembering what we heard earlier, the objects that this conceptual mind engages is permanent. This is called a "meaning generality" (tib: dön chi). In this case "sound" is a meaning generality. Some people may call that the universal of the sound. But at least from the Vaishashika traditions' point of view that is not how it is, as we have discussed earlier.

When I mentioned earlier that what appears to the mind that recollects and earlier experience of sound, is not the sound itself but a generic image or meaning generality of sound. And that is permanent.

The "universal" of the Vaishashikas is substantially different from the particular. A universal is a unique entity, substantially different from particulars. The universal of "tree" is substantially different from any specific tree. But here we are talking about dön chi, the generic image.

So, during the teaching on this text "In Praise of Dependent Origination" I attempted to give a word by word explanation. I did not emphasize on elaborating the very meaning of dependent origination and emptiness. You have a teacher in Gelek Rimpoche, whose teachings are no different from my own. They are not at any level less than mine. You have had and still have the opportunity to study with Gelek Rimpoche on that in a clear and unmistaken way. He is a very capable teacher, therefore I did not elaborate on these principles. So I tried to give a "word" commentary.

In conclusion of this teaching here over the last couple of days I have explained the teachings as best as I could and you have listened attentively, so the virtues we have accumulated together, we should dedicate firstly to the elimination of any kind of illness, as well as famine and other forms of sufferings on this earth; also for all the beings here to enjoy prosperity and well being and so forth. Also the Buddha's teaching, as we have seen in the text, is an unexcelled teaching by an unexcelled teacher. This is supremely effective in bringing happiness and well being for oneself and others. Therefore we should dedicate this merit to the continuous flourishing of this dharma, so that through this teaching the well being of sentient beings can take place. So we dedicate this to all beings being able to derive benefit of the teachings and for the teachings themselves to flourish for a long time.

Whether the teaching can flourish or not depends on the holders of the teachings. So we should dedicate this for the long life and health of the teachings holders. The supreme among the teachings holders is of course HH Dalai Lama. He is such a source of well being and inspiration for so many beings on this earth, crucial for the flourishing of the dharma. So please dedicate your merits to His Holiness to live long and healthy. We can pray for him to live for eons. Whether that is feasible that is another matter, but we can pray that he may live longer than 100 years and that all his wishes may be fulfilled spontaneously.

Also the spiritual head of this organization, Gelek Rimpoche, we should dedicate our merit for his long life and health, for his work to continue as it has in bringing benefits to others and in bringing the dharma. We should also dedicate the merits to the enhancement of the practice for those who are the benefactors of this center and pray for their long life and good health and the enrichment of their practices and finally to your own long life and good health and flourishing of the dharma and for you to be on the path for life after life so that before too long you can attain liberation and buddhahood.

Dedication verses as in evening session of previous day.