It's hard to say good morning or good afternoon because it's a different timezone. It's better to say Tashi Delek. Today is the fifth day of our prayers for the pandemic to subside. Today we will recite two well-known prayers to Guru Rinpoche. Guru Rinpoche or Padmasambhava was a scholar and siddha from the land of Buddhayana who came to Tibet at the end of the eighth century. While in Tibet, he dispelled all the obstacles that prevented the Dharma from flourishing. He's one of the main figures in the early establishment of the Dharma in Tibet. This is why he is like a second Buddha to Tibetan people.
People admire and respect him because he is like a super hero. He has incredible powers and great majesty. No obstacle can stop him, no adversity can set him back. Since I was a child, I have a great faith in Guru Rinpoche. Until I was eight years old, the only prayer I know was the seven-line prayer to Guru Rinpoche. Whenever my family members or neighbors asked me to recite prayers, I used to recite the seven-line prayer for them.
Now during this pandemic, many people have great fear and anxiety. It's natural to feel anxious in a situation like this, which we have never experienced in our lives before. Which is hard to know what's going to happen next. But when a big disaster happens, it's more important for us to calm our minds. So that we can think clearly and make the right decision. Because in the great crisis such as this one, many of the decisions we make can be a matter of life or death.
A pandemic is different than a war. In a war we have a choice to surrender to the enemy, but in a pandemic we don't have that choice because we must win. In order to achieve victory over the pandemic, we must have strong resolve, conviction, and faith. We should be like Guru Rinpoche. We shouldn't try to begone our way out of obstacle. We have to face up to them. We must not be at fear.
The teaching on mind training tells us that sickness and adversity are spiritual teachers. We must dare to face hardship and overcome obstacles. If we understand that all our problems and sufferings can teach us something then obstacle can become our friends. But right now we don't have sufficient power ourselves so that's why we need to pray to Guru Renpoche. Because in this time of the generation, Guru Rinpoche's blessing and his power to clear obstacle are beyond compare. So that's why we will recite the prayers to Guru Rinpoche together. Thank you.
Today is the seventh day and the final day of our prayers for the pandemic to subside. Today we will recite Thang Tong Gyalpo's prayer that saved Sakya from disease, along with the Six Syllable Mantra and other Mantras and Appeasing the Discord of the Mamos.
There are many different Mantras, today we will recite the ones that will help the current pandemic. Thang Tong Gyalpo was a well-known 14th century Tibetan siddha. Once there was a large epidemic at the great Sakya monastery. None of the medical treatments offering rituals they tried could help. When everyone was close to dying, they asked Thang Tong Gyalpo for help. He wrote this prayer and epidemic subsidized as the history related.
Regarding the amending the discord of the Mamos. In Sanskrit Mamos are called ‘matri’, a type of spirit but here it could be understood as the nature environment arising in the form of an inner goddesses. Basically it is like we are making amends for our faults in order to remedy our imbalances and disharmony with the natural environment. I think that our current prayers have gone very well, and they have reached more than a million people, and at least two hundred thousand people have watched the session live and prayed together. Many Rinpoches, nunneries, and monasteries, and India, Nipal, Bhutan have joined too. Everyone is participating in these prayers voluntarily without being asked. And this gives me renewed hope and confidence that the world will turn out well. Thank you all from the bottom of my heart.
This time I have taken a new task, which is this speaking in three languages. Normally when I have a translator I can relax, but this time there is no translator, and it has been a bit difficult but I do hope that my communication directly in several languages has given you a better understanding and a feeling of personal connection with me. In particular, this is the first time I have spoken so much in English and even though my English is not fluent I hope you can feel that I care.
Right now I'm physically in Europe so the difficulties that everyone is experiencing are not just mere words for me. I'm experiencing them together with you, and I feel that this is a special opportunity for me. Still I'm not sure I like to catch that coronavirus. Europe is now beginning to get some control over the epidemic. And I hope that this happens soon in America as well. But I have greater concern for Africa, South America, Asia, and other continents. I'm especially worried about India, which is like my second home. The Indian Center and state governments are doing their utmost, but the population in India is extremely large and there are many difficulties such as providing sufficient testing and so forth even though there has to be a strict quarantine and curfew to limit the spread of the illness. Many workers who depend upon a daily wage live hand-to-mouth and are experiencing terrible hardship. So please pray for India and do whatever you can to help. Also I would like to ask all of you who live in the Himalayan region not to downplay the image. It is crucially important to follow scientific advice on methods preventing the spread.
I'm also greatly concerned about the Tibetan communities in India, Nepal, and Bhutan as well as the Tibetan living abroad in Europe, America, and other countries. Although western medicine does not yet have a treatment for this disease, some experienced Tibetan doctors can treat it effectively. But the main thing is to prevent infection. A protection called around your neck or blessing pill won't be any help if you then rush off to a large gathering of people. You have a responsibility to protect yourself that you can't post off onto medicine and protection codes. In particular at this time when people are afraid and anxious. If you are able to do a bit of Dharma practice, it will help you find comfort of your mind and develop conviction.
Then now next we will recite the prayers and Mantras together. Thank you very much.
This completes our prayers for the pandemic to subside. Now I'd like to recite the concluding prayer, the great aspiration of by the seventh Karmapa Chodrak Gyatso. It's a long prayer so I can only read it in Tibetan, but before I read it I'd like to tell you some of the main points of the dedication of the aspiration we will now make.
We combine all our rituals from the past present and future with the power of love and virtuous of all Buddha Bodhisattva and sentient beings and then dedicate.
We make the aspiration that our virtue and all the strength of our wholehearted love, may pervade every corner of this great universe.
We make the aspiration that our virtues and all the strength of our wholehearted love, may dissolve into each atom of the Earth.
Restoring all that has been defeated so that it may become even more powerful and beautiful than it was before.
We make the aspiration that our virtues and all the strength of our wholehearted love, may sefuse animal we share this Earth home from the tiniest and up so that all their sufferings and their weakness or lack of freedom maybe be pacified.
We make the aspiration that the power of our sincerity and wholehearted love may sefuse all human beings, our brothers and sisters so that they may feel mutual love and enjoy the glory of virtue and happiness.
We make the aspiration that due to the power of our sincerity and wholehearted love, these terrifying pandemic may subside and all those who have been stricken by this disease may be cured and soon enjoy even better health and greater vigor than before.
We make the aspiration that we may give the power of our sincerity and wholehearted love to the courageous doctors and medical workers so that they may be relieved from all mental and physical exhaustion and have renewed courage and boldly strength.
We make the aspiration that through the power of our sincerity and wholehearted love, the consciousness of all those who have passed away in this epidemic may move onto ever happier world, and all those leave behind may soon find solace for their grief and sufferings.
We make the aspiration that through the power of our sincerity and wholehearted love, all the billions of living creatures who have perished in natural disaster such as the bushfire in Australia may find their path to happiness.
We make the aspiration that through the wholehearted love, our parents and spiritual master and friends and loved ones may live long and healthy life and accomplish all their wishes spontaneously.
We pray that we may completely fulfill the aspirations of the Bodhisattva aspiration that we could not think to make or would be able to fulfill ourselves just like they have made them.
Now I will read the prayer so I ask you all please keep those points in mind as you listen.
Today is the sixth day of our prayers for the pandemic to subside. Today we will recite Karma Chagme's aspiration for birth in Sukhavati. In Tibet, there are many different prayers to rebirth in Sukhavati, some long and some short. But the one that people know the best is this one by Karma Chagme. The Mahayana tradition teaches that there are pure and impure world realms, But we shouldn't understand pure and impure as referring to the outer form, instead we should think that they refer to the subtle causes and conditions that create the world. He said that an impure realm such as this earth is created by this shared Karma of the sentient beings in it, and the pure realm is created by the aspiration of Buddha. Among all the many pure realms, Sukhavati is the easiest to take birth in and has the greatest benefits. So it is the most well-known.
Modern scientists have done a lot of research into our solar system, our galaxy, and the rest of infinite universe. They are searching for other planets that might be habitable just as the earth is, but we are neglecting our own precious planet. This beautiful earth that sustains us, and this bursting with the energy of life. Although since the industrial revolution, our lives have become easier and facilities more developed. We have achieved this by planting the earth for resources and we have covered more of it. The building and roads causing great destruction in the process. We have to go global warming and cause deforestation and melting glaciers and pollution of rivers and oceans. Everyday hundreds of species go extinct because of human actions. Our greed knows no limits. It is so strong that even swallowing the entire earth could not satisfy.
We hear about all of these on the news we hear about the research, but when it gets hot we turn on the AC when it's cold we turn on the heating. We always try to make ourselves more comfortable and life more enjoyable. For individuals, it seems such a small thing but we never consider how great the burden we are causing to the earth or the cost to the environment. If you feel slightly uncomfortable, then we get upset and want to change things, but all the other beings are enduring a thousand times more suffering and pain due to the environment destruction that we have wrought. And they can do nothing but suffer and die. Therefore we need to see things from their perspective and think hard then we can finally become more motivated and more sincere in taking care of the home we share together. We must recognize how dense our ignorance is. We must cherish this planet that provides the foundation for us to live and treasure the natural environment. The survival of our own and future generations depends on this.
Yesterday was Earth Day. Actually, every minute that we are alive, every breath we take is intimately connected with our planet. So everyday should be Earth Day for us. Perhaps it's even a little sad that we need to have Earth Day to remind us to celebrate. It is a sign that we human beings are forgetting how we are.
Now we will recite the Karma Chagme's aspiration for birth in Sukhavati together. Thank you so much.
