43 The Great Benefits of Arya Sanghata Sutra, Lamrim Realizations, and Retreat Advice 29-Sept-2004 скачать в хорошем качестве

43 The Great Benefits of Arya Sanghata Sutra, Lamrim Realizations, and Retreat Advice 29-Sept-2004

(00:00:00) Rinpoche teaches on the qualities of the Buddha and leads the practice of Buddha Shakyamuni. (00:25:30) Rinpoche does prayers and gives teachings before he continues the oral transmission of Arya Sanghata Sutra. He tells a story about Geshe Yeshe Tobten. Rinpoche asked Geshe la what is more beneficial, to stop the butter lamp if the flies jump inside and die, or offer it. Geshe la said, it is best to stop as sentient being die, at the expense of creating a merit of having offered a butter lamp. (00:46:50) Rinpoche gives an extensive explanation of the immense benefit of hearing the Arya Sanghata Sutra, emphasizing that even simply listening to it purifies the most severe negative karmas — such as the five uninterrupted karmas—and generates inconceivable merit, equivalent to offerings made to billions of buddhas. (00:56:35) Rinpoche tells about how Arya Sanghata Sutra was discovered in Afghanistan. (01:10:40) Rinpoche continues the oral transmission of the Arya Sanghata Sutra. (01:50:10) Rinpoche tells about the incredible results of having recited the Arya Sanghata Sutra. Rinpoche gave out many copies of the Arya Sanghata Sutra to support Dharma projects. Reading it together removed obstacles, inspired positive changes like quitting smoking and going vegetarian, and attracted sponsors for centers. Even daily small readings create great merit beyond worldly wealth. (02:23:50) Rinpoche starts the oral transmission of Pabongka Rinpoche’s special text on lamrim meditation. (02:29:50) Rinpoche gives extensive advice on how to meditate on lamrim. When meditating on lamrim to gain realization, use the most effective and logical reasoning that suits your mind and keep developing the experience repeatedly. Focus on the objective, like realizing the guru as Buddha or understanding impermanence and death. Consistent reflection, such as checking one's motivation throughout the day, helps make all actions Dharma over time. Patience and thought transformation are essential, especially to prevent anger, which destroys merit and delays realization. (02:57:14) Rinpoche tells about how to do retreat and benefits of retreat: whether it’s a nine-month retreat, a one-year retreat, or even longer, even if one doesn’t have an actual realization yet, if one practices correctly—like the lineage lamas of lamrim whose life stories and advice we study—then according to the lamrim outline, based on correctly devoting to the virtuous friend, meditating on the lamrim for some people definitely, for sure, for many people, will bring realization. Because the mind, as I mentioned before, is a causative phenomenon, dependent on cause and conditions, so it can change. (03:11:54) Studying Dharma, unlike studies at university, where the teacher explains the words and then students memorize to be able to answer for their examination, is for benefitting the mind. When you practice lamrim you become the psychologist and you solve the problem right there. (03:42:45) Rinpoche explains how to practice meditations on lamrim, through analytical and fixed meditation on specific topics. Then Rinpoche explains the definitions of realizations. For example, "when you think of buddha, that's all the gurus; when you think of a guru, that's all the buddhas - there’s no separation" and when this becomes a stable experience, not just for a few hours or one day, two days, but stable, then you have guru devotion realization. Rinpoche mentions that Pabongka Dechen Nyingpo said to meditate every day on guru devotion, lamrim, and emptiness in order to gain realizations before death. If you can meditate on these three each day, it’s excellent; otherwise, do at least two—guru devotion and lower path, or guru devotion and emptiness. Guru devotion is realized when you see the guru as a buddha all the time, even without effort, like remembering the yellow color of a monk’s robe. (04:17:45) Rinpoche gives instructions on how to do retreats, especially to students of the FPMT Master's Program. The main focus of the retreat is lamrim, which is the essence of all Dharma and what one is meant to meditate on and realize — not just study intellectually. The format of the retreat is centered around lamrim, supported by preliminary practices like prostrations, Vajrasattva, or mandala offerings. Each session begins with purification practices such as the Thirty-five Buddhas or Vajrasattva, followed by guru yoga—either Lama Tsongkhapa Guru Yoga or Guru Puja. During these sessions, one also recites lamrim prayers and lineage requesting prayers before doing lamrim meditation. In addition to that, Rinpoche advices to purify and restore broken vows (pratimoksha, bodhisattva, tantric vows), as they are the basis for realizations. (04:52:15) The group does protector prayers and dedications. This teaching was given by Lama Zopa Rinpoche at Lama Tsonkhapa Institute in Italy as part of the Ganden Lha Gyama retreat between September 3-30, 2004.