Going Through the Bardo State (超越生死）

Acho Rinpoche:
We chanted the Hundred Syllable Mantra 21 times just now; we did it 49 times last time; one day we will do it 108 times. You should practice the way I do - sitting completely still, listening to the sound of mantra, and completely resting in a state of emptiness. I felt extremely light, free of sensual feelings, completely disappeared - gone! You have to reach this state of stillness that your body is free of sensual feelings, you only heard the sound of mantra, and you dissolve into the sound of mantra. In that state, you can chant 108 times or 1,080 times of the mantra, and your mind will just sink, sink, sink… First, the enlightenment being will descend, and your body will feel a hardened sensation as though you are a piece of rock, and then you will find yourself vanished into emptiness. Finally, you will find “yourself” present outside of your body - in space. At this point, you will feel that your legs, body and mouth no longer belong to you. In this state of non-being, only the resonance of the mantra continues, within which you completely dissolved. Then, you can sit there in a meditative posture for a long period of time. If you feel restless, you will feel that your legs have turned numbed, and you will not be able to continue chanting the mantra and you will feel very uncomfortable.

The next thing I want to let you know is that I have been sick for the past 2 days, during which I could not sleep at all. First, it was my toothache caused by a badly swollen gum. The pain persisted from 1am, 2am, 3am, 4am, to 5am. I exhausted all methods including taking medications, using salts etc. I almost felt like extracting my tooth using a plier! The pain was simply too great to bear! Finally, I thought to myself, “Alright! Just go ahead and torture me with the pain!” I just lied in my bed and continued chanting the mantra in my heart, till dawn.

On the following day, I called my dentist. Before that, I consulted a Chinse physician who said that I was too heaty and he gave me the strongest medication and assured me that the pain could be treated. However, it did not work! When the dentist saw my condition, he was surprised. He said, “The swell is really bad!” He asked me why I came to him so late? He asked me how long has it been? I told him, “2 days.” He wondered how I could bear the pain and he thought by now my blood pressure would have shot up very high! “110/70,” he said, “normal!” My body temperature was also normal, at 36 degree Celcius. He said, since the swollen gum did not affect my blood pressure or my body temperature, he would do an operation for me. The operation, although was done under anaesthetic, was very painful!

After the operation, he said he would not be available on the following day because of a meeting already scheduled. He gave me the contacts of two of his dentist friends, in case I need further assistance. “Tell them that you are sent by me, they will attend to you,” he said. “I think you must consult one of them tomorrow,” he said. I told him, “I may not need to seek their help tomorrow.” He gave me lots of medication. I told Dharma Sister Yue that we might need to cancel the prayer tonight. Actually, I had a meeting today and a prayer tonight. I had not been able to sleep for the past few years. After taking the medication, surprisingly, I could sleep again. Although I still feel the pain, my gum is no longer swollen. That’s why I could practice with you tonight.

Now I would like to invite Dharma Sister Xiu to say a few words. Let her share with us the details of some events that had happened recently.

Dharma Sister Xiu:
I took care of my husband for more than ten days by now. It was hard work and I almost fall sick now. He is someone who is very stubborn, probably because he served in the army in the past. Although he is a Buddhist, he has not been practicing the teachings. He consulted a fortune teller recently and was told that there was a spirit following him closely. However, the fortune teller could not help him solve the problem. Acho Rinpoche also said something similar about the problem faced by my husband but he could help solve the problem. I am very grateful to Acho Rinpoche.

Initially my husband had a headache. He kept vomiting too despite taking the medicine. I was panic and tried to help him by chanting the mantra and seeking help from Acho Rinpoche. I hope he could recover soon. He was so stubborn that he refused to consult the doctor despite the seriousness of his sickness. Finally, I managed to drag him to a family doctor. The doctor did not even dare to prescribe any medication for him but merely gave him a jab. He advised me to take my husband to the hospital instead but my husband just refused to do so. He vomited again at night.

On the 2nd day, I brought him to a doctor. He was given a jab and blood pressure assessment. He showed no sign of a stroke. On the 3rd day, he fell somewhat unconscious and hardly opened his eyes throughout the day. At night, when he woke up, he told me that he had a dream. In his dream, he saw a shadow, dressed in a floral shirt. When I heard that, I could feel the presence of a foreign being in his body. On the 4th day, I told Acho Rinpoche that I wished to bring my husband to see him for blessing. But I could not force my husband to go with my plan. On the 5th day, I told my husband, “If you are still not well today, I will bring you to Acho Rinpoche.” Surprisingly, he agreed. He put on the shirt he wore when he took refuge in Buddhism i the past, and a rosary. But he took them off soon after. I really felt that there was a foreign being in his body. I made an appointment with Acho Rinpoche and I finally brought him over to seek blessing.

At night, I asked Aco Rinpoche about my husband’s condition. Acho Rinpoche told me, “He is possessed by a spirit.” It matches what the fortune teller said. I asked, “Will he be alright?” Acho Rinpoche said, “ No problem!” After receiving the blessing from Acho Rinpoche, my husband had a dream on the same night. In his dream, he fought with others but won the fight. He took three human heads home, placed them in paper bags and placed them before the earth-god. After that, he fell sick. He consulted a doctor but was told that he did not suffer from a stroke. So, I felt relieved because it meant that it was not a very serious illness. Few days later, he became dehydrated after vomiting continuously. Finally, he was admitted to a hospital but again, the doctor said he did not suffer a stroke. He was put on drips and became conscious again. When I returned home for a sleep, I dreamt of taking a photograph with Grand Master. After that, I returned to the hospital and was told by the doctor that my husband was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit due to internal bleeding in his head. I became panic because I initially thought that it was not a stroke. Why did he suddenly bleed in his head? After the prayer at night, I learnt that Acho Rinpoche fell sick and I guessed he must have taken over the sufferings of my husband. I could not sleep after returning home on that night, feeling guilty.

On the following day, the doctor told me that my husband had suffered from a stroke at least 7 to 8 days ago. I told him that my husband just refused to consult the doctor. The doctor said, “I see. However, the blood clot has disappeared almost completely. If there is no further complication, he can be transferred to a normal ward soon.” At the time, there was another experienced doctor with us who said, “It must be the blessing from heaven! He is very lucky!” In the afternoon, he was transferred to a normal ward. Grand Master and Acho Rinpoche must have given their blessings. I felt very touched by what the doctor said and felt like crying. I hope that my husband will change some of his bad habits after surviving this crisis, and cherish the Dharma. The Dharma is truly inconceivable!

Acho Rinpoche:
The dentist told me not to speak in the next three days, in order to reduce the pain caused by my toothache. I experienced great pain when swallowing my saliva. When I left the dental clinic looking for my lunch, I could not find porridge after checking it out at 4 to 5 coffee shops (eateries). I could not speak at all and had great difficulty in swallowing my saliva, besides not being able to eat anything throughout the day. As I need to attend a meeting in the morning, I had not time for breakfast in the morning. I am not a choosy person but all I could find in the eateries are just hard foods that need chewing.

Since I have given him the blessing, he will turn out to be fine. There is no need to worry too much. All things in this world are impermanent, aren't they? It is coincidental that I just talked about the “Bardo Teachings – Going Beyond Birth and Death” recently. This story tells us about the sufferings before death. I must live through the great pain while I am still alive! However, such pain is very insignificant compared with the pain of going through the bardo state. It is a far more painful process of going through the bardo state. Her husband actually went through a state closely resembling that of a near-death. We must learn from this lesson and prepare ourselves well to go through the bardo state.


A discourse given by Acho Rinpoche on 10 Oct 2010

The Illusory Cyclic Existence （六道轮回的虚幻）

Dharma Brother Yi:

Acho Rinpoche gave a very wonderful teaching the other day. I felt that it was indeed a very rare teaching that I have ever come across in this lifetime. I have always found the core teaching of Buddhism somewhat elusive. However, on that very night Acho Rinpoche pointed out the core teaching in a very direct and reassuring way, giving me a very clear sense of direction that prevents me from digressing. My heart was indeed filled with the Joy of Dharma!

On the following day, I had a dream in early dawn. In the dream, we were practicing in a group. Acho Rinpoche taught us the recitation of the name of a highly realized Thai Buddhist Master who had a very stron spiritual connection with the former. Acho Rinpoche was holding a book in his hand. The book consists of two sections, with the first half section written in Thai and the second half in Chinese, translated by Acho Rinpoche.

After the group practice, Acho Rinpoche told us that he invented a special fertilizer lately. This fertilizer would enhance the booming of flowers for any plant. He gave the fertilizer to all of us. I was the first in the queue, and I took one big bag of it. The fertilizer appeared to be translucent and was milky white in color. I held the bag in my hand and thought to myself, “I don’t have any plants, what should I do with this fertilizer?” I knew not what to do with it. Then I noticed that the fertilizer given to others looked different from mine – they looked like the “black pills” instead. Acho Rinpoche instructed them to swallow the black pills and they did so accordingly. I thought, “Why is it that I can’t eat mine?” I felt very grateful in my mind, and I woke up from my dream at that point, still feeling very joyful at heart.

I had yet another dream this morning but I forgot it completely after waking up. Suddenly I recalled this dream during our practice and it became vivid again. In my dream, I was standing beside a lake, staring at the water in the lake. The water was murky. There were numerous illusory sentient beings in the lake which looked extremely sad and troubled. They were swimming all over in a very chaotic manner. I felt clearly that they were illusionary, not real – why would they suffer from so much mental afflictions? “An illusory existence should rightly be free of mental afflictions,” I thought. “I must tell them!” So, I jumped into the lake, trying to reach them. However, the moment I entered the lake, I felt tremendous pressure and my mind became very confused! I could not see my own body, instead I felt like one of them – an illusion too! However, my mind was telling me that I was not an illusion but real! I struggled in great discomfort. Again, I thought, “How can I pull them out of this place? How should I tell them that they are just illusory?” At that point, I no longer felt that it was just an illusion - my mind became clouded and confused. Suddenly, I saw Dharma Brother Shao leading a group of people moving towards a certain direction, looking for his master. He told the rest that his master would be able to free them from the cyclic existence and their mental afflictions!

I looked at the direction to which he was pointing and saw two vertical rays of light. When Dharma Brother Shao mentioned his “master”, a message flashed through my mind immediately – “Acho Rinpoche is there!” So, I helped to lead the rest moving towards the light in that direction too. The lake water was murky and we lost our sense of direction completely. When we came close to the two rays of light, we began to develop a clearer sense of direction – and we could feel that this was a lake. We moved towards the two rays of light which appeared to be two vertical pillars of light leading upward from the lake. I started feeling very uncomfortable and I said “I go up first!” I charged upward and half way through, I sensed that I would be seeing Acho Rinpoche. And I knew that the two pillars were, in fact, his legs! I felt that he was seated, with his two legs resting in the lake.

When I reached the surface of the water, I returned to the initial state where I could see the lake, the water, the mountain, birds and trees. I felt very comfortable in the nature. At that point, I knew that the lake was illusionary. I had awaken in the dream but had yet to wake up from my dream. I could not quite remember the dream after waking up until I did my practice, where I quietly analysed my dream once more. I thought this was a special dream that must have its significance. When I re-emerged from the bottom of the lake, I expected to see the face of Aho Rinpoche but I saw an empty space instead. I did not see the face of Acho Rinpoche appearing before my eyes but his two legs of light. Which one was his true identity? While I was searching for the answer, the vision of the entire lake appeared in my mind. Actually, the upper half of Acho Rinpoche’s body was formless! It was just nature – trees, flowers, grass etc; the manifestations of emptiness!

Both legs of Acho Rinpoche that appeared as light symbolised “luminosity”. The water in the lake symbolised “sentient beings in the six realms of cyclic existence”. It simply means – luminosity actually exists within the sentient beings of the six realms of cyclic existence”. When I saw the light from the bottom of the lake, I thought it was Acho Rinpoche and I saw his face appearing. Actually, the face of Acho Rinopche is just an illusion. His face appeared from luminosity in order to give us a sense of direction, guiding us upwards the pillars of light. What is above the lake is the true existence – it is not impermanence but "emptiness and awareness". It was a very clear sense of awareness! That was the whole picture! I was very touched when I understood the meaning of this dream!

Acho Rinpoche:

Dharma Brother Yi had a very meaningful dream. It is likened to a small opening, through which he saw a small facet of my attainment. Actually, the upper half is a luminous state of emptiness. You will finally reach a luminous state of emptiness. The whole universe and nature are just your manifestations. In order to help the sentient beings, you place both your legs in the Six Realms of Existence. The manifestation of rainbows, rains… are meant to bring them back to their place of origin. The Seal of Great Perfection can deliver the sentient beings to the Pure Land of the Buddhas. This is simply an inconceivable method – the Great Perfection!

As what Dharma Brother Yi said, the lake represents the Six Realms of Existence. When sentient beings entered the Six Realms of Existence, they lost their ways. The lake is simply too vast, and everyone is lost in his dream, lost in his delusions, stranded in the process of birth, aging, sickness and death, and trapped by his career, family, children, spouse etc. Although Yi wanted to help others, he too was lost when he entered the lake. He was trapped too and became helpless himself. This is to tell you that it is just not easy to break free of the Six Realms of Existence. If the Buddhas, Bodhisattvas and the enlightened masters do not re-enter this realm of existence to help the sentient beings by teaching, blessing and helping them, it will be impossible for anyone to break free of the Six Realms of Existence at all!

Sakyamuni Buddha said there is no one who can break free of the Six Realms of Existence, regardless of your status as a king, a president, a billionaire, a professor etc. You simply cannot break free of the Six Realms of Existence but repeatedly born and die within. Only with the blessing of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, one can break free of the cyclic existence. The wisdom of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas is simply inconceivable - it is simply beyond the comprehension of ordinary beings. If you want to break free of the Six Realms of Existence, you must practice with vigour. When you break free, you will realize that the whole world, the universe are just parts of your body. Rainbows will appear wherever you are because they are part of your existence. Wind, rain, streams… are all parts of your existence - they are just your manifestations. You did not create them intentionally - they just appear very naturally. This is the state of being when you reached the ultimate state of enlightenment. So, the dream was very meaningful - it leaked slightly my state of attainment. I am pleasantly surprised that Yi had such a dream.

A discourse given by Acho Rinpoche on 31 Jul 2010 in Singapore.

Enlightenment is a Possibility (成佛是可能的）

H.H Dilgo Kyentse Rinpoche was a great King of Dharma in the Nyingma, who was a highly realized and accomplished practitioner. He was also a prolific writer who wrote many books about “Bodhichitta”. “Bodhichitta” is no different from the mind-training that I often shared with you. We possess an innate Buddha Nature but most of us are unable to recognize it due to our karmic obscuration. It is liken to a piece of jade that is still covered by a layer of rock externally that you must keep polishing it until the hidden gem is revealed. However the process revelation is a very tough one. That explains why there had been many practitioners in the past but few had attained enlightenment. It is very difficult to remove that outer layer of rock. Nonetheless, you must continue to do so. If you do not move upward, you will only go downward and perpetually stranded in the cyclic existence (samsara). If you go forward with courage, you will succeed one day because we have the equal potential of attaining a full enlightenment of a Buddha.

In a nutshell, we must aspire to Bodhichitta - aiming only to benefit others and avoid being carried away by our inner sense of hatred. Guard our mind very carefully – it is important not to be carried away by our inner thoughts that appear one after another incessantly because you will not be able to turn back after going too far off. We must always be mindful that a practitioner must behave differently from one who is not. No matter what we do, we must always do so with the intent to “help others and bring happiness to others.”

Let me give you an example - a lady called me while I was away, in Taiwan. She wanted to come to my house to fix the water pipe problem. I told her to call again after I returned to Singapore - she called two days later. I told her what she needed to do with my water pipe, in just a few sentences. Before she hung up, she told me, “Gee, you are just different from others!” I asked her why? She said, “I only spoke to you briefly but I feel exhilarated! I wonder why? I just feel happy and enjoy the conversations with you. I feel happy and joyful!” Actually, she would have used the phrase “spiritual joy” had she known it.

This is the positive result of a good practice – one can bring happiness to others naturally. Of course, the premise is that you must be a happy person in the first place. If you are full of negative emotions, feeling unhappy all day, being argumentative and always want to be the one winning, you will not be able to bring happiness to others. On the contrary, you will tend to only force others into a corner. So, we must first tame our own mind, after which our inner sense of compassion will naturally manifest outward in many ways that your speech will make others feel happy, and others will feel happy by merely meeting you. At that point in time, you will be able to help the numerous sentient beings; no matter where you go, you will be able to help many sentient beings whom you meet; you will somehow look different from others and will be able to bring happiness to others. You could even reach the level of attainment where rainbows will appear in the sky wherever you go, and even animals and plants could interact with you - that is an inconceivable state of enlightenment.

It is not easy to reach that state of enlightenment. It is also not easy for us to tame our own mind. We have committed too much negative karma since time immemorial and we have inculcated very strong negative propensities in ourselves that they will take a long time to be purified. Only when our karmic obscuration has been fully eradicated, we can free ourselves from the cyclic existence. You should practice gradually and change yourselves gradually. One day, though it may not happen in the present lifetime, you will still make it in your next life, or maybe ten, one hundred, one thousand or ten thousands lifetimes later. When you finally attain enlightenment, it will be a very different situation altogether - you will then see a beautiful world around you!

We will not go the extreme ways. As the Buddha said, “Buddha Nature is an innate state of being in all sentient beings”. The Zen Patriarchs said, “I am a Buddha!” However, do not misunderstand these words and think that you are already a Buddha! It is useless to claim that you are a Buddha when you are not able to demonstrate the state of enlightenment and the true quality of a Buddha, yet. You will fail the tests in the face of adversities and end up losing your temper, transgressing the precepts, being over powered by your own lust, hatred and ignorance. So what if you know that you are essentially a Buddha when you have not truly attained the true state of enlightenment of a Buddha!

Neither should we over belittle ourselves, thinking that our karmic obscuration is too great that we will never attain the state of Buddhahood - that will just give you an excuse to continue falling. We should not go to the two extremes but should walk a middle path instead. We should have faith in in the attainment of Buddhahood eventually. Although we may not be able to make it in the present lifetime, one day we will make it! We should turn towards enlightenment, but not the opposite. We should say goodbye to our negative emotions, confrontational attitudes, dissatisfactions and the rest of the negativities. We should turn toward the positive aspect of life such as being more objective, compassionate and virtuous; one day, we will make it! We should have faith in the path to enlightenment.

A teaching given by Acho Rinpoche on 22-9-2010

In Search of a Reincarnated Master (The Recognition of Acho Rinpoche III)

On 23 Nov 2007, we paid our respect to H.H Dudjom Rinpoche at his residence in Nepal. My mobile phone suddenly beeped, indicating a message sent from Singapore. It was from H.E Konde Rinpoche III. He asked me if I could meet him, for he had a little question for me. I replied to him that I would meet him when I returned to Singapore.

On the very night when I returned to Singapore, I went to see him at his residence, with a few fellow practitioners. He gave me a surprise! He told me that I am a reincarnation of a late Nyingma Dzogchen master – Acho Rinpoche II. So, he gave me the official recognition of “Acho Rinpoche III”.

H.E Konde Rinpoche is a Nyingma Dzogchen practitioner, whose root guru was the late Achang Dodan Rinpoche, a renowned and accomplished Dzogchen master. Konde Rinpoche was ordained as a monk since young, and he is the current abbot of the Horthang Monastery in Qinghai, China. He left China some years ago and is now residing in India, following H.E Dzogchen Rinpoche.

Konde Rinpoche told us that he had a vivid dream. In the dream, Achang Dodan Rinpoche instructed him to present a Guru Rinpoche crown to someone. When he woke up from his dream, he knew that it had a very special significance. He prayed to the Nyingma protector – Single Knot, for an advice on who should the recipient of the crown be. He must be someone with a very special karmic connection. Later, in his meditation, he had a vision of me. He knew then that I must be the owner of this crown. He consulted a few other Rinpoches, including the 70-year old Kade Rinpoche of the Horthang Monastery and his grandfather who was also an accomplished practitioner. All of them confirmed his vision.

On 1 Dec 2007, H.E Konde Rinpoche held a simple and yet solemn enthronement ceremony at my home, in recognition of my status of a reincarnated Nyingma Dzogchen master, Acho Rinopche III. In Feb 2008, H.E Dzogchen Rinpoche, the current lineage holder of the Nyingma Dzogchen, also recognized my status as a reincarnated master in the Nyingma Dzogchen lineage.

I used to have frequent dreams of my returning to Tibet. I saw a temple in which my body of previous life was being enshrined and worshipped by the believers. I also knew that I had repeatedly taken rebirths in the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism. My karmic connection with Tibetan Buddhism is indeed very profound. However, I have not been actively searching for my past identities all these years. Names and forms are never important to me; I find actual practice and attainment far more important. Although I did not pursue the name and form, they came to me somehow. I understand that the time has come for me to help more sentient beings, for a practitioner who has aspired to bodhicitta shall bear the responsibility of performing the Buddha activities. So, I accepted the faith presented to me.

Giam Eng Leng, Lotus Robe, Acho Rinpoche, Living Buddha, are just illusory names in a dream. “Rinpoche” or ‘Living Buddha” are but an expedient method that “I” will be using in this lifetime to help the sentient beings. I am just a tiny leaf which is carried by the wind to wherever it brings me. I recalled a song that I used to sing when I was young, the lyrics of which suddenly appeared in my mind – “Although I have never been to Qinghai, it came into my dream every night. Mt Kala decorated by white clouds rises tall into the sky. The Yellow River and Yantze River seem to be originating from the sky…”


Acho Rinpoche
Singapore

Japan Hit by 9.0 Magnitude Earth Quake on 11 Mar 2011

We dedicated the merit generated from our prayer tonight to the People of Japan who suffered from the major earthquake hitting Japan on 11 Mar 2011 - may Buddha bless them.

There is an increasing number of disasters occurring in the world today. Some people thought that we Singaporeans are very fortunate because Singapore is almost free of natural calamities. Although we live in a land free of major crisis, it will be meaningful if a crisis helps to engender a sense of impermanence in us.

The Japanese live in constant fear of earth quakes. In 1923, a 7.9 magnitude earth quake killed 140,000 people in Kanto, Japan. The People of Japan live in fear every day, worrying about Japan being completely flattened by earth quakes one day. In fact, the earth is rocked by tremors every second daily, but most of them went unnoticed. Major earth quakes are expected to occur once every hundred years. But in the two recent decades, major earth quakes occurred frequently, including the big tsunami hitting Indonesia (Aceh), the major earth quake hitting China (Wen Chuan), New Zealand (Christchurch), Taiwan (921) and Japan (Kobe), causing the loss of millions of lives. The People of Japan live in fear of earth quake daily; it will be great if they can turn their fear into a strong sense of impermanence which could propel them into a vigorous practice of the Dharma.

On the contrary, Singaporeans live in a land free of major disasters and tend to take things for granted. Most people do not seem to have a sense of crisis when major earth quakes hit other countries, for they seemed too remote. Some people seemed to worry more about having paid for the tours to Tokyo or Hokkaido and insisted on going on the tours. They did not seem to consider the possibility of losing their lives in an earth quake. When impermanence or a major disaster strikes, one could perish immediately regardless of whether he is a president, a prime minister or a billionaire.

I watched the news yesterday and I found the earth quake hitting Japan appeared similar to the scenes depicted in the movie "2012". The tsunami was 10 meter high and it swept away people, boats, cars, trains, houses standing in its way. Had you been there on the spot, you would have felt completely helpless and realized that mankind is just too insignificant in the face of mother-nature!

Sakyamuni Buddha said, if you simply enjoyed the materialistic wealth of your life but know nothing of the Dharma, you are simply wasting your time, your life and the resources on earth. We should turn our sense of impermanence into a motivation for practice. Practice with vigour till you reach the state of enlightenment, and you will be able to help the rest of the sentient beings. Do not just live your life as a routine, day after day, year after year, wasting your valuable time - your entire life will just pass you by in a blink of eye! Bodhisattva Shamanthabhadra gave a good analogy – we are just like a fish living in a fish tank, where the water level in the tank recedes gradually. One day, we will suddenly realize that the water in the fish tank has completely run dry and our life will soon come to an end. In fact, our death will come sooner than expected.

Two nights ago, while I was driving home from work, I suddenly felt that my neck became stiff and I could not turn my head. When I reached home, I could not alight from my car because my left leg became too stiff to move. I had to massage my leg for awhile before I could start dragging my feet home. At night, half of my body became too stiff to move. On the following day, Japan was hit by a major earth quake! Initially I thought I was having a surge in my blood pressure, but the doctor advised me that my blood pressure was actually normal. My body was very stiff and I felt very uncomfortable throughout the period. Fortunately the stiffness suddenly disappeared today; it came and went like a gust of wind! This is just impermanence!

While the news of Japan earth quake was reported widely, I got a SMS from Dharma Brother Liang. He informed me that his wife fell on her way to a hospital for a check up. Her elbow was dislocated and her bone was fractured. She is now being hospitalized. Like I said, anything can happen at any moment. Impermanence is staring at us right in our face! Please practice your mind-training and do not succumb to your hatred, lust and ignorance – do not be deceived by your own thoughts. The fall can be fatal! I had survived several falls, thanks to the blessing of the Buddhas, Bodhisattvas and Dharma Protectors. One day, I went to a hawker centre for my breakfast. Someone dropped his bowl of noodles on the floor. I stepped on the spillage and slipped. I was flung a few feet away from the spot and landed with my back on the floor. Fortunately I survived the accident unscathed. Some people could end up with broken limbs after a fall. We had a Dharma Sister who fell in Malaysia in the past and needed to rest at home for the next one year. Some even died from their falls.

You should not assume that you are still young and you still have plenty of time – you will not know when you will die. You could get into your bed tonight but you may not be able to wake up the following day to put on your pair of slippers again. Do not assume that you still have plenty of time. When tsunami or earth quake strikes, there is no more time left. Do not waste your time on frivolous matters or arguments. When a disaster land on you, your four elements (earth, water, fire, wind) will decompose and you will not even have time to repent. I hope all of you can turn a sense of crisis engendered by the Japan earth quake into a sense of impermanence, and practice with vigour!

The Japan earth quake is not totally unrelated to us. I was born in Japan in one of my past lives, as a Vajrayana practitioner. So, Japan is one of my homelands. My feelings for Japan and Tibet are equal. Tibet is one of my past homelands too. I was born in Tibet as a practitioner in one of my past lives. The trail of practice is non-erasable. The Japan earth quake saddens me. I felt as if my homeland is destroyed. However, this cannot be helped due to the collective karma of the sentient beings. I hope the People of Japan can rise from the devastation, and the mind of people will turn towards virtue, in order to avoid future crisis. If the mind of people continues to turn towards evil, crisis will just continue perpetually. There are still many people buried underneath the rubble. We pray to the Buddhas, Bodhisattvas and the enlightened ones to help the People of Japan, help them return to their homes, help more people practice the Dharma and transform the collective bad karma into good karma.

Date: 12 Mar 2011