Our Venerable Khen Rinpoche Kalsang Nyima gave a teaching called ‘White Tara puja for celebrating Khen Rinpoche’s birthday’ in the WhatsApp group in the morning of 21 April 2021. Please read the following Chinese translation and edited English transcript carefully before joining the White Tara puja. Thank you!
2021-04-21
White Tara Puja for Celebrating Khen Rinpoche’s Birthday
So, all Dharma brothers and sisters, good morning!
Today is my birthday. For that, you have invited Lama Chodrak to the Wisdom Light Office and all Dharma brothers and sisters will practice the White Tara together.
So, for that, do not forget to arouse the pure motivation for all living beings, i.e. bodhichitta. After that, all of you will pay attention and concentrate on the meaning of White Tara’s visualization. I did explain how you should do the visualization. Maybe somebody has forgotten. Some people may remember a little bit. Anyway, you will focus on the White Tara text and read the Chinese translation in the text.
The most important of all is having faith and devotion towards Buddhas, Dharma and Sangha, Gurus, Yidams, and Dharma Protectors, and love and compassion to all living beings. Then you will visualize all blessings from Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, especially White Tara dissolved into all living beings, especially your master whose birthday is today. Then all the obstacles, sickness, and problems will be cleansed. You will visualize all living beings, especially your master and all the students, receive so much power, energy and blessings. After that, you will dedicate (the virtue of) what you practice for all living beings to become Taras.
Some students will dance as an offering to my birthday and play my Dharma song. You will then pay attention to the meaning of this Dharma song. This Dharma song is very, very important to Dharma practice, especially compassion and love, and in particular the mind training. It is very, very important.
Actually, all living beings are very kind to us, especially all the bad people and enemies. They give us very good chances to practice patience, compassion, and mind training, and cleanse bad karma. But we did not recognize these good chances most of the time and forgot about that. Then we got angry at them, talked badly at them, and made bad karma again. This is so stupid and ignorant.
So, for that, we need to develop wisdom and compassion, especially to all the bad people and our enemies. Most of the bad things they do to you come from our bad karma. We did bad karma in our past lives. So, do not lose these very good chances for Dharma practice. If you can practice these like my song, then everything will become beneficial to your Dharma practice wherever you go and live. It is very important.
So, when some Dharma sisters are dancing with my song, all of you will pay attention to the meaning of my song. You will practice and remember this.
When you go back to your home to stay with your family and return to the office, if you can remember that all the time, then all the problems, obstacles, and suffering become beneficial to your Dharma practice. So, this is very, very important to your true, real, or pure Dharma practice. If you really need pure Dharma practice, you must follow compassion, mind training, and bodhichitta. It is very, very important.
So, if you can do like that today, then what you did for my birthday, the days spent on learning the dance, offerings made for my birthday, prepared, flowers that were bought, butter lamps that were offered, shopped, bought and cooked food for my birthday, and all the activities you do and did become pure Dharma practice benefiting all sentient beings. It brings so much good karma (and merits) to you.
But if you forget this meaning of Dharma practice, you then follow the five poisons. When you go to the Wisdom Light Office, you will look at other people like what he is doing, and she is doing. Or you do not like him or her. So, these actions of ‘I don’t like’, speeches like ‘I don’t like,’ and ‘don’t like their dancing’ always make you think negatively and look at bad things. Then when you talk to other people, you will say, ‘You know this Dharma sister is doing something and something. I don’t like her. They do so many bad things. They are not nice with other people,’ ‘Oh, they are something and something.’ If you talk like that, then you give bad feelings to other people. Other people will also follow you and listen to you. Then eventually they will talk about bad things. After that, what will happen?
Everything from what you go to the Wisdom Light Office and what you offered will become meaningless and you will make so much bad karma. It is very dangerous to you and all Dharma brothers and sisters. This affects so many students.
Some Dharma students are very happy with Dharma practice. Then you talk about bad things. They may think, ‘Oh, this is dangerous. Maybe Dharma practice is not good. Maybe (this) Dharma center is not good. Oh! I do not want and need to come anymore. I do not want to practice Dharma.’ Then you have given bad energy and guide to other people making them running far away from Dharma practice. You have stopped and cut the Dharma practice of others already. You have given so much bad karma to other people. Then these bad actions always come to you again and again as obstacles, problems, and suffering. Why?
It is because you never stop yourself from making bad karma. You never stop yourself from talking about bad things to other people. So, for that, many problems come.
When some people go to there (Wisdom Light Office), they never pay attention to Dharma practice. They just look and maybe take some photos, eat, and take some tea, yogurt, and cake. They just come and then laugh. In their mind, there is no Dharma practice.
(So,) After the puja ends, you check with yourself if you have practiced any pure motivation. No! Did you visualize anything? No! Did you dedicate something? No! You just come and go. You did not make any bad karma and did not make any good karma too. This is meaningless as well. It is just the same as going to some parks, mountains, and doing some shopping. You come and only your body joins the Dharma activity. But your mind does not have any compassion, wisdom, or anything. Then there is nothing.
Some students come here for doing business and trying to ask for donations and something else. Then they always lie, cheat, and something. Wow! Those people are very dangerous. So, I hope nobody will be doing that.
But be careful! We have been in the samsara for so many lifetimes and our crazy mind follows five poisons all the time. There is no need to pay any attention and this crazy mind follows the five poisons automatically. We wake up and then follow the five poisons. We eat and follow the five poisons too. We talk and follow our crazy mind.
For that, we need to pay attention to Dharma practice. If you do not pay attention to Dharma practice, our mind follows five poisons all the time becoming lazy, crazy, stupid, ignorant, and busy. So, for that, please be careful! Be careful!
Life is very short. Right now, we meet Buddhadharma and have a good opportunity to practice Dharma. But we do not know when we will die. After our death, it is not easy to get a good opportunity to practice Dharma like this. Then it is very dangerous.
So, please, all of you will practice Dharma meaningfully. Practice Dharma purely for the benefit of all living beings.
Thank you.