To attain enlightenment requires great effort.  If we do not try to eliminate our laziness or our attachment to sleep or other worldly pleasures, we incur a secondary downfall.

Enlightenment cannot be bestowed upon us like a gift.  The state of enlightenment is a dependent-arising, which means it is something that only arises when all the causes and conditions for its existence have been assembled.  The laws of karma state that if the cause has not been created, it is impossible for the effect to arise.  This means if we ourselves do not create the causes for our own enlightenment, it will never happen.  We will remain trapped in samsara forever, or for at least until we do create the causes to get out.  There is no escaping this.  Since we are going to have to do it eventually, we might as well start now.

Sadly, our mind is pervaded by laziness.  We don’t want to do anything.  Interestingly, we find it easy to generate the effort to do things that are harmful to us, but we struggle mightily to do the things that are actually good for us.  For us, a good day is one where we don’t have to do anything and nothing is expected of us.  We struggle to get out of bad, we procrastinate everything that doesn’t have to be done right away, we take forever to work up the determination and focus to start working, and when we do, we almost immediately start looking to do something else, like check our email or Facebook for the 36^th time today.  We never get around to starting our exercise regime, we continue to eat unhealthy foods despite knowing better, dishes pile up, laundry goes undone, thank you notes never get written, days go by until eventually we die without having ever gotten anything done.  If we consider the analogy of the blind turtle putting its head through the golden yoke explained in the lamrim teachings, we realize that our current precious human life only happens once every approximately 600 trillion years!  For us to fitter away this precious opportunity doing nothing is a waste of cosmic proportions.  But look at how many people do exactly that.

For us as Dharma practitioners, if we waste our life in this way, we will die with a mind of intense regret.  We will realize we had been given the opportunity to finally break free from the cycle of samsara, but we squandered the opportunity on meaningless things and now it is too late.  We will feel like the fool who had been taken a treasure island for a day who forgot to gather up any riches before it was time to go.  If we die in such a miserable state, we will most certainly fall.  We cannot let this be our story. 

Effort in a Dharma context does not mean hard work.  Quite the opposite, in fact.  Effort means taking delight in virtue.  In other words, a mind of effort is one that enjoys doing what is good for us.  Venerable Tharchin explains the problem is we don’t actually believe Dharma works.  If we don’t believe it works, it is very difficult to generate the effort necessary to do it.  But if we see clearly how it does work and we see how everything is in fact eminently doable, then, he says, “effort comes effortlessly.”  We will feel like somebody who stumbled upon plans to make a time machine or a wish fulfilling magical device.  We are so excited about the prospects, that we don’t even think about the work it takes to get it built. 

So the trick to generating the mind of effort is to constantly ask ourselves the question, “how does that work?”  The Dharma does work and there are valid answers that explain how and why.  In some other religions, people are discouraged from asking too many questions or probing too deeply.  In the Kadam Dharma it is the opposite.  The more we ask the question, “how does that work?” the more we receive satisfactory and perfectly reasonable answers.  We get enough of these and we start to see, not just believe, that the Dharma does indeed work.  Of course at first it begins with little things like happiness depends upon a peaceful mind, but in dependence upon these initial understandings we can get the ball rolling.  We keep probing, trying and coming up with answers, and gradually more and more practices make sense.  Then at some point we see, “if I do this, I see how it will set me in irreversible motion, and if I can attain that escape velocity I will eventually be guaranteed to attain enlightenment.”  From this, we do more, probe more, until eventually we see directly how the entire path actually works, from the initial steps all the way to final enlightenment.  If we understand this, effort will not be a problem for us at all.

Early on in the process, there is a critical turning point we need to reach.  At present, we want worldly attainments more than we want spiritual attainments.  As a result, we put effort into worldly attainments and little effort into spiritual ones.  We need to reverse this.  The method for doing so is a consistent practice of the lamrim meditations, such as the cycle of 21 explained in the New Meditation Handbook or the 15 explained in Mirror of Dharma.  The main function of the lamrim is to change our desires from being worldly desires to being spiritual desires.  When this is what we want, we will naturally work to fulfill them.  This is why the lamrim is the foundation for all that follows, and why if we lack a lamrim foundation we will never get very far no matter how many advanced practices we try. 

New Year’s Day is of course preceded by New Year’s Eve.  The evening before is usually when friends get together to celebrate the coming of the new year.  Sometimes Kadampas become a social cynic, looking down on parties like this, finding them meaningless and inherently samsaric.  They mistakenly think it is somehow a fault to enjoy life and enjoy cultural traditions.  This is wrong.

If we are invited to a New Year’s party, we should go without thinking it is inherently meaningless.  Geshe-la wants us to attain the union of Kadampa Buddhism and modern life.  New Year’s Eve parties are part of modern life, so our job is to bring the Dharma into them.  Venerable Tharchin said that our ability to help others depends upon two things:  the depth of our Dharma realizations and the strength of our karmic connections with living beings.  Doing things with friends as friends helps build those karmic bonds.  Even if we are unable to discuss any Dharma, at the very least, we can view such evenings as the time to cultivate our close karmic bonds with people.  Later, in dependence upon these bonds, we will be able to help them.

One question that often comes up at most New Year’s Eve parties is what to do about the fact that most everyone else is drinking or consuming other intoxicants.  Most of us have Pratimoksha vows, so this can create a problem or some awkward moments for ourself or for the person who is throwing the party.  Best, of course, is if you have an open and accepting relationship with your friends where you can say, “you can do whatever you want, but I am not going to.”  It’s important that we don’t adopt a judgmental attitude towards others who might drink, etc.  We each make our own choices and it is not up to us to judge anyone else.  We might even make ourselves the annual “designated driver.”  Somebody has to be, so it might as well be the Buddhist!

If we are at a party where we can’t be open about being a Buddhist, which can happen depending upon our karmic circumstance, what I usually do is drink orange juice or coke for most of the night, but then at midnight when they pass around the glasses of Champagne I just take one, and without a fuss when it comes time, I just put it to my lips like I am drinking but I am not actually doing so.  If we don’t make an issue out of it, nobody will notice.  Why is this important?  Because when we say we don’t drink, they will ask why.  Then we say because we are a Buddhist.  Implicitly, others can take our answer to mean we are saying we think it is immoral to drink, so others might feel judged. When they do, they then reject Buddhism, and create the karma of doing so. We may feel “right,” but we have in fact harmed those around us. What is the most moral thing to do depends largely upon our circumstance. It goes without saying that others are far more likely to feel judged by us if in fact we are judging everyone around us! We all need to get off our high horse and just love others with an accepting attitude.

Fortunately, most Kadampa centers now host a New Year’s Eve party.  This is ideal.  If our center doesn’t, then ask to host one yourself at the center.  This gives our Sangha friends an alternative to the usual New Year’s parties.  We can get together at the center, have a meal together, do a puja together and just hang out together as friends.  We are people too, not just Dharma practitioners, so it is important to be “exactly as normal.”  If our New Year’s party is a lot of fun, then people will want to come again and again; and perhaps even invite their friends along.  It is not uncommon to do either a Tara practice or an Amitayus practice.   Sometimes centers organize a retreat weekend course over New Year’s weekend.  For several years in Geneva, we would do Tara practice in six sessions at the house of a Sangha member.  The point is, try make it time together with your Sangha family.  Christmas is often with our regular family, New Year’s can be with our spiritual family.

But it is equally worth pointing out there is absolutely nothing wrong with spending a quiet evening at home alone, or with a few friends or members of your family. Just because everybody else is making a big deal out of it and going to parties doesn’t mean we should feel any pressure to do the same. I personally have never enjoyed them party scene, even when others are not getting drunk, etc. I much prefer a quiet evening or a solitary retreat. There is nothing wrong with this, and if that is how we prefer to bring in the New Year, we should do so without guilt or hesitation.

What I used to do (and really should start doing again), is around New Years I would take the time to go through all the 250+ vows and commitments of Kadampa Buddhism and reflect upon how I was doing.  I would try look back on the past year and identify the different ways I broke each vow, and I would try make plans for doing better next year.  If you are really enthusiastic about this, you can make a chart in Excel where you rank on a scale of 1 to 10 how well you did on each vow, and then keep track of this over the years.  Geshe-la advises that we work gradually with our vows over a long period of time, slowly improving the quality with which we keep them.  Keeping track with a self-graded score is a very effective way of doing this.  New Years is a perfect time for reflecting on this.

Ultimately, New Year’s Day itself is no different than any other.  It is very easy to see how its meaning is merely imputed by mind.  But that doesn’t mean it is not meaningful, ultimately everything is imputed by mind.  The good thing about New Year’s Day is everyone agrees it marks the possibility for a new beginning.  It is customary for people to make New Year’s Resolutions, things they plan on doing differently in the coming year.  Unfortunately, it is also quite common for people’s New Year’s Resolutions to not last very long.

But at Kadampas, we can be different.  The teachings on impermanence remind us that “nothing remains for even a moment” and that the entire world is completely recreated anew every moment.  New Year’s Day is a good day for recalling impermanence.  Everything that happened in the previous year, we can just let it go and realize we are moving into a new year and a new beginning.  We should make our New Year’s resolutions spiritual ones.  It is best, though, to make small changes that you make a real effort to keep than large ones that you know won’t last long.  Pick one or two things you are going to do differently this year.  Make it concrete and make sure it is doable.  A former student of mine would pick one thing that she said she was going to make her priority for the coming year, and then throughout the year she would focus on that practice. I think this is perfect. Another Sangha friend of mine would every year ask for special advice about what they should work on in the coming year. This is also perfect.

When you make a determination, make sure you know why you are doing it and the wisdom reasons in favor of the change are solid in your mind.  On that basis, you will be able to keep them.  Making promises that you later break creates terrible karma for ourselves which makes it harder and harder to make promises in the future. We create the habit of never following through, and that makes the practice of moral discipline harder and harder.

Just because we are a Kadampa does not mean we can’t have fun like everyone else on New Year’s Eve.  It is an opportunity to build close karmic bonds with others, especially our spiritual family.  We can reflect upon our behavior over the previous year and make determinations about how we will do better in the year to come.

I pray that all of your pure wishes in the coming year be fulfilled, and that all of the suffering you experience become a powerful cause of your enlightenment.  I pray that all beings may find a qualified spiritual path and thereby find meaning in their life.  I also pray that nobody die tonight from drunk driving, but everyone makes it home safe.  Since that is unlikely to come true, I pray that Avalokiteshvara swiftly take all those who die to the pure land where they may enjoy everlasting joy.

And now we come to the final chapter of Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life, chapter 10, Dedication.  Shantideva reveals the practice the perfection of giving in his dedication of the merit he has accumulated from composing the Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life.   It is a most beautiful expression of a mind of giving without boundaries, in the form of a special prayer.  The whole of the Guide culminates with these very special words of giving, showing, actually, where all a bodhisattva’s actions are leading.  In fact, showing where our whole life, a bodhisattva’s life, is being directed.

I remember when I first read this dedication, I was astounded. I had never read anything quite like this before.  So, so moving.  It sums up for me what a bodhisattva is really about.  It seems we can put everything, all the trainings of a bodhisattva that have been explained by Shantideva, into the practice of giving.

I think we can understand why Shantideva’s left this until the very end, revealing the practice of giving in the form of dedication.  It says so much about Shantideva and the bodhisattva’s way of life. It seems the whole of a bodhisattva’s life can be regarded as one of giving, finally.  Shantideva, it is clear with these verses, he thinks about everyone.  He thinks about everyone and wants the best for others.  He wants to give others everything they could possibly hope for, everything they could possibly wish for.  Such selflessness is almost beyond words.  Extraordinary.

I would encourage people to use this dedication as their own.  For example, when you feel that you have accumulated a lot of virtue, a lot of merit with a particular activity, at the end of that activity, use this dedication.  I know many people who have done this.  They felt they have accumulated a lot of merit through their efforts, they then go to this dedication at the end of the day or their long retreat, or perhaps their studying the whole of Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life.

I will not provide a commentary to the dedication, because we need to make it our own.  There are some of you reading this who have been with me since the very beginning, when I started this commentary way back in November 2015.  It has been a long ride, but hopefully one you have enjoyed as much as I have.  We can sit down on our meditation cushion, perhaps this weekend, and read through this dedication, trying to make it your own.  We can dedicate any and all merit we have accumulated from reading these posts in the same way that Shantideva did.  It is what he would want.  It is the best way we can honor his contribution to our spiritual lives to dedicate in the same way. 

But the true dedication is not simply reciting these words from our heart, but dedicating ourselves to bringing these dedications into reality.  We need to ourselves become bodhisattvas, travel the bodhisattva path, and then give back to all living beings in this way.  In other words, don’t make this a dedication prayer, dedicate your life to making it come true.

(1) Through the virtues I have created
By composing Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life,
May all living beings without exception
Practise the Bodhisattva’s deeds.

(2) By virtue of my merits,
May all beings everywhere,
Tormented by sufferings of body and mind,
Find physical comfort and mental joy.

(3) For as long as they remain in samsara,
May their temporary happiness never decline;
And may they all eventually experience
The everlasting joy of Buddhahood.

(4) May all embodied creatures
Throughout the universe
Who are experiencing the pains of hell
Enjoy the bliss of Sukhavati Pure Land.

(5) May those tormented by cold find warmth,
And may those tormented by heat be cooled
By a continuous rain of soothing waters
Flowing from the vast clouds of the Bodhisattvas’ merit and wisdom.

(6) May the forest of razor-sharp leaves
Become a delightful woodland glade,
And may the trees of splintered iron and piercing thorns
Transform into wish-fulfilling trees.

(7) May the regions of hell become joyful lands
Adorned with vast and fragrant lotus pools
Resounding with the enchanting calls
Of wild geese, ducks, and swans.

(8) May the heaps of burning coals become piles of various jewels,
May the red-hot iron ground become a soothing crystal floor,
And may the mountains of the crushing hells
Become celestial palaces of worship filled with Sugatas.

(9) May the hail of lava, blazing stones, and weapons
Henceforth become a rain of flowers,
And may all attacks with weapons
From now on become a playful exchange of flowers.

(10) May those drowning in the fiery torrents of acid –
Their flesh eaten away to reveal their lily-white bones –
Attain the bodies of celestial beings
And sport with consorts in gently flowing streams.

(11) “Why are the henchmen of the Lord of Death and the unbearable buzzards and vultures so afraid?
By whose noble power is the darkness of our suffering dispelled and joy bestowed upon us?”
Looking above them, those in hell will behold the radiant form of Vajrapani, the Holder of the Vajra.
Through the force of their new-found faith and joy, may they be freed from past evil and come to abide with him.

(12) When they see the lava fires of hell extinguished by a rain of flowers moist with scented waters,
And are immediately satiated with bliss,
They will wonder by whose hand this was brought about
And behold Pämapani, the Holder of the Lotus.

(13) “Friends, cast away your fears and quickly gather here,
For above us is the youthful Manjushri, whose radiant topknot dispels all fears.
Endowed with great compassion and bodhichitta, he protects all living beings,
And through his power dispels all suffering and bestows perfect joy.

(14) “Behold him in his enchanting palace resounding with the songs of a thousand celestial beings,
With hundreds of gods bowing before him, their tiaras touching his lotus feet,
And a vast rain of flowers falling upon his gracious head, his eyes moist with compassion.”
Thus, upon seeing Manjushri, may all beings in hell cry out with joy.

(15) Likewise, when through my roots of virtue all beings in hell
Feel the cool, sweet-smelling rain descending from miraculous clouds
Created by Bodhisattvas such as Samantabhadra,
May they experience perfect happiness.

(16) May all animals be freed from the fears
Of being preyed upon by one another,
And may all hungry spirits be as happy
As the inhabitants of the northern continent.

(17) May they be satiated by a stream of milk
Flowing from the compassionate hands
Of Arya Avalokiteshvara
And, by bathing in it, may they be constantly refreshed.

(18) May the blind see forms,
May the deaf hear sounds,
And just as it was with Mayadevi, the mother of Buddha,
May all pregnant women give birth without pain.

(19) May the naked find clothing,
May the hungry find food,
And may the thirsty find pure water
And delicious drinks.

(20) May the poor find wealth,
May those weak with sorrow find joy,
And may those whose fortunes have declined
Find replenishment and long-lasting good fortune.

(21) May everyone who is sick
Be swiftly healed,
And may every disease that affects living beings
Be permanently eradicated.

(22) May the frightened be released from their fears,
May those in captivity be freed,
May the powerless be endowed with power,
And may people think only of benefiting one another.

(23) May travellers on the road
Find happiness wherever they go,
And without any effort
Accomplish whatever they set out to do.

(24) May those who sail by ship or boat
Obtain whatever they seek
And, returning safely to the shore,
Joyfully reunite with their friends and relatives.

(25) May those distressed because they have lost their way
Meet with fellow travellers
And, without any fear of thieves or other dangers,
Proceed comfortably without fatigue.

(26) May those in dangerous and fearful places,
Children, the aged, and the unprotected,
As well as the bewildered and the insane,
Be guarded by benevolent celestials.

(27) May all humans be freed from all the unfree states,
May they be endowed with faith, wisdom, and compassion,
And may they have the very best food, follow pure conduct,
And always be concerned for their future lives.

(28) May they have inexhaustible joy and copious resources,
Just like the supreme treasury;
And may they enjoy freedom,
With no disputes, interferences, or injury.

(29) May those who possess little splendour
Be endowed with majesty,
And may those whose bodies are worn through asceticism
Attain magnificent and noble forms.

(30) May all beings everywhere
Take rebirth in a gender of their choice,
And may the lowly and downcast attain grandeur
Without ever displaying pride.

(31) By the power of the merit I have accumulated,
May all living beings without exception
Abandon all forms of evil
And always engage in virtue.

(32) May they never be separated from bodhichitta
And always follow the Bodhisattva’s way of life.
May they be cared for by Buddhas and Spiritual Guides
And forsake all demonic activity.

(33) While in samsara, may they be reborn in fortunate realms
And enjoy inconceivably long lives,
Abiding always in contentment
Without ever hearing the word “death”.

(34) May all places throughout the world
Become gardens of wish-fulfilling trees,
Resounding with the sound of Dharma
Proclaimed by Buddhas and Bodhisattvas.

(35) May the whole ground
Become completely pure,
As level as the palm of a hand,
And as smooth as lapis lazuli.
(36) And in every land may there appear,
For the sake of all disciples,
Multitudes of Bodhisattvas
Possessed of excellent qualities.

(37) May all living beings uninterruptedly hear
The sweet sound of Dharma
Issuing forth from birds and trees,
Beams of light, and even space itself.

(38) May they always meet with Buddha
And their Sons and Daughters, the Bodhisattvas;
And may the Spiritual Guides of the world
Be venerated with clouds of offerings.

(39) May celestial beings bring timely rains,
And may harvests always be plentiful.
May governments rule in accordance with Dharma,
And may the people of the world prosper.

(40) May all medicines be effective,
May the recitation of mantras fulfil all wishes,
And may all spirits and animals who have
influence over us Be endowed with great compassion.

(41) May no one ever experience physical pain,
Mental anguish, or sickness.
May they be free from all forms of unhappiness,
And may no one ever be afraid or belittled.

(42) In all temples and Dharma centres,
May recitation and meditation flourish forever.
May the Sangha always be in harmony,
And may their wish to benefit others be fulfilled.

(43) May Sangha who wish to practise purely
Find the right conditions to do so
And, abandoning all distractions,
Meditate with mental suppleness.

(44) May the ordained be materially provided for
And always be free from harm.
May no one who has taken ordination
Ever allow their moral discipline to degenerate.

(45) May all those who have broken their moral discipline
Completely purify their downfalls.
May they attain a fortunate rebirth
And never allow their morality to decline again.

(46) May those who are learned in Dharma be respected
And receive material support.
May their minds be pure and peaceful,
And may their good qualities be proclaimed in all directions.

(47) May they never experience the sufferings of the lower realms
Or meet with hardships of body, speech, or mind.
May they have forms superior to those of the gods
And quickly attain the state of a Buddha.

(48) May all living beings again and again
Make offerings to the Buddhas.
May they become endowed with the eternal bliss
Of a fully enlightened being.

(49) May the Bodhisattvas fulfil the welfare of the world
In the very manner they have intended,
And may all living beings receive
Everything the Buddhas have intended for them.

(50) Likewise, may all Solitary Realizers and Hearers
Attain the happiness of nirvana.

(51) And until I attain the level of the Joyous One,
Through the blessings of Manjushri,
May I be concerned for all my future lives
And always receive ordination.

(52) May I always live humbly, sustained by simple food.
Throughout all my lives, may I abide in solitude
And always find ideal conditions
For achieving my spiritual goals.

(53) Whenever I wish to see a scripture
Or compose even a single verse,
May I behold without obstruction
Protector Manjushri.

(54) To fulfil the needs of all living beings
Reaching to the ends of space,
May my way of life always resemble
That of Manjushri.

(55) For as long as space exists
And for as long as living beings remain in samsara,
May I abide among them
To dispel all their suffering.

(56) May all the suffering of all living beings
Ripen solely upon me;
And by the power of the Bodhisattvas’ virtue and aspirations
May all beings experience happiness.

(57) May the Buddhadharma, the sole medicine for all suffering
And the source of all happiness,
Be materially supported and honoured,
And remain for a very long time.

(58) I prostrate to Manjushri,
Through whose kindness my virtuous intentions arise;
And I prostrate to my Spiritual Guide,
Through whose kindness my virtuous qualities increase.
This concludes the tenth chapter of Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life, entitled “Dedication”.

This concludes Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life, composed by the Buddhist Master Shantideva.

Shantideva makes this final prayer, so beautiful the way he ends this chapter on wisdom.

(9.166) May I be able to extinguish the fires of suffering
That torment all these beings,
With a vast rain of happiness
Descending from the clouds of my merit;

(9.167) And, through sincerely accumulating a collection of merit,
While endowed with the wisdom realizing non-true existence,
May I teach emptiness to all living beings
Who suffer because of their self-grasping.

I feel this is one of our greatest responsibilities now, to teach emptiness, to teach emptiness to others.  Geshe-la has said many times at the real meaning a meeting Geshe Kelsang is the opportunity to learn about emptiness.  First of all, we must gain and deepen our understanding.  I think it is our responsibility to gain a clear and precise understanding of emptiness through our study.  If we really do have compassion for others then we will take that responsibility to study emptiness, to gain a clear precise understanding and teach emptiness, understanding there is no other way to bring an end to suffering than gaining a deep, deep experience of emptiness.

If we gain this experience, we will be able to teach emptiness like no other actually.  We will be able to teach emptiness in a very simple way.  The person who has the greatest understanding can teach in the simplest way.  So we’ll be able to teach in a simple way, we’ll be able to teach in a very, very practical way, and importantly a clear unmistaken way.  We will do so in dependence upon this foundation that we are building upon our study of emptiness.  We are taking that responsibility.

At some point in the future, I hope to do a similar series of blog posts on chapter 6 of chandrakirti’s guide to the middle way, which is our definitive explanation of emptiness. We can generate the wish to study Ocean of Nectar and be able to study such reasoning in a lot more detail, line by line, either on our own or as part of a study program.  I would say between now and when we do finally study such texts, there’s a lot of preparation to do to gain this practical experience.  On the basis of that, the reasonings will make sense.  I think all of us need to prepare ourselves well.  As a preparation, we can study books like Heart of Wisdom.  We can study the chapter on emptiness which appears in Transform your Life, Eight Steps to Happiness, and Mahamudra Tantra.  This is most important, actually, for where we are. 

We need to learn to love our study, make it a game.  We need to be like a child at play, constantly contemplating Dharma, and sharing with our Dharma friends our latest discoveries.  For us, it should be fun.  We dig deep into the Dharma trying to understand what it means, we play with it and contemplate it, and jewels will emerge.  Then we should put our understanding into practice and gain some experience of this insight.   Then, it will lead to deeper insights and new understandings, and more amazing contemplations and study.

I would say we need to meditate on emptiness as much as possible.  Yes, this means we must spend time on our meditation cushion, trying to mix our mind with emptiness, gaining a clear understanding through our study, trying to identify more and more clearly the object emptiness, mixing our mind with emptiness.  But off the meditation cushion, too, we must try throughout the day to meditate on emptiness.  When we are working with others, keep meditating on emptiness.   

We should try to keep the advice of being on retreat at all times.  We can remember the illusion-like nature of things throughout the day.  If we are mindful, if we’re concentrating, then definitely we will accomplish great results, just as we would do if we were in actual retreat.  In this way, definitely we create the cause to go into retreat, strict retreat, at some time in the future, when hopefully our mind will completely mix with emptiness, and we will destroy all traces of our grasping.

I think what is most important is that we appreciate the opportunity that we have been given as members of a Dharma center and a Dharma community.  This is the best opportunity.   We should not think other people have a better opportunity than we do to gain experience in exchanging self with others, to gain experience in the wisdom realizing emptiness.  No one has a better opportunity than we do.  Remember, we are the people who have the responsibility of teaching emptiness to all living beings.  We have been given the greatest opportunity.

Venerable Geshe-la is giving us the opportunity to bring about both external and internal growth of the Dharma in this world.   We must be bringing about an internal as well as an external growth – both – with the one helping the other.  We must feel that we have the best opportunity to gain experience, deep experience, of exchanging self with others.  The best opportunity to gain experience, deep experience of emptiness, the best.  There is no reason why, in dependence upon the opportunity that we have been given, that we cannot come to possess ultimate Bodhichitta, even in our lifetime.  It is possible, definitely it is possible.

If we appreciate our opportunity, then we will enjoy having this opportunity, we will enjoy the responsibility that we have.  We would not have it any other way.  I think more and more over time we must feel that we do have the greatest opportunity and the responsibility that we have, we are so lucky, really, so lucky to have.  So we can enjoy, we can enjoy.  We must over time be enjoying ourselves more and more and more.  As far as spiritual growth is concerned, I have to say that we have the best conditions of all.  We can become teachers of emptiness.  We can become valid teachers just like Geshe-la.

Finally, we need to be patient with ourselves.   We should not expect anything, just have a patient mind, we need to be patient, especially with understanding texts like this, Ocean of Nectar, and so forth.  We are not going to gain a clear, precise understanding after a few weeks or months. It is going to take years, maybe even lifetimes.  So if we understand that, then we consider it our lifetime’s work to understand clearly precisely the meaning of Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life, Ocean of Nectar, and so forth.  We can be patient, we can enjoy creating the cause.  Everything will come naturally from that in time.

This concludes the ninth chapter of Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life, entitled “The Perfection of Wisdom”.

In these last few verses of the chapter, we receive some final encouragement by Shantideva, strong encouragement to strive for and gain the wisdom realizing emptiness.

With these verses Shantideva primarily shows us how we can apply our understanding of emptiness to practically solving the delusions that arise in our mind and in our daily life. If there is one theme that is important from the entire chapter, it is the necessity of not engaging it as an intellectual exercise but rather as a practical necessity. Here Shantideva shows us how we can use what we have learned to overcome our daily delusions.

(9.151) With objects that are empty in this way,
What is there to gain and what is there to lose?
Who is there to praise me?
And who is there to blame me?

(9.152) With no truly existent benefit or harm,
What is there to be happy or unhappy about?
And, when their ultimate nature is sought,
Where are those who seek a good reputation, and where is what they seek?

Here Shantideva shows how we can use the teachings on emptiness to overcome all of our worldly concerns. What differentiates a worldly being from a spiritual being is their principal object of concern. Worldly beings are primarily concerned with the experiences of this life. A spiritual being is primarily concerned with the experiences of our future lives. A pure being is someone primarily concerned with gaining experiences outside of samsara.

We have to honestly admit how we are still dominated by worldly concerns.  We have these worldly concerns because we are still listening to our self-cherishing, paying attention to its object, rather than neglecting or forgetting about it.  All of the things that we are concerned about, possibly condensed into the eight, are not only empty of meaning, but they are also empty of true existence.

Thus far Shantideva has explained how we can oppose our grasping at our I with wisdom, how we can oppose our grasping at our feelings and so forth with wisdom, now he explains how we can oppose our grasping at the very objects that we feel so strongly about, again with wisdom.  So what is there to gain, what is there to lose?  Nothing.  Whatever we feel there is to gain, whatever we feel there is to lose, we will find upon analysis or examination, nothing.  Who is there to praise me, who is there to blame me?   No one.  We can remind ourself of a previous verse in chapter eight that words of praise are just like empty words in a cave. 

For this to work it has to connect with our heart.  Otherwise we read these things, even we try to understand them, it will make little or no difference because in our heart we still believe the objects of our concern are important and we will be affected by such things.

Perhaps we are afraid to accept this reasoning because we fear we will lose our current objects of happiness.  Actually, we will.  We will no longer be able to enjoy things in a worldly way anymore.  But these things never had the power to give us any happiness anyway, only suffering.  All we need to do is examine our life and realize how the vast majority of our suffering has come from our preoccupation with the worldly concerns. But losing our current objects of happiness and not being able to enjoy things in a worldly way anymore does not mean that we lose our happiness and can no longer enjoy things. Quite the opposite actually. Our normal objects of happiness do not actually have any power to give us happiness, they usually just give us problems. But when we find new spiritual reasons for wanting these things, we can enjoy them in a much more sublime way. Further we find new objects of happiness that are within us that produce and provide much greater happiness than our external objects ever could. This is the essential meaning of finding happiness from a different source.

Abandoning worldly concerns does not mean we no longer seek or need things such as a good reputation, wealth, pleasant experiences and so forth. It means we change our reasons for wanting these things. When we are dominated by worldly concerns, we want these things because we believe they are actually causes of our happiness. With emptiness, we recognize that they have no power whatsoever to give us any happiness because in fact they do not exist at all. So of course they cannot give us the happiness that we seek because there is nothing there. However, this does not mean that praise, wealth, a good reputation, and so forth are without value. If we want these things for pure spiritual reasons so that they can help us fulfill our bodhicitta wishes to lead all of these beings to enlightenment, then there’s absolutely nothing wrong with pursuing them and being concerned about them. What we abandon is our attachment to them, thinking that it is somehow impossible for us to be happy without having these things. We also recognize that they are at best a means to an end, and not an end in themselves.

But we happily do so because by enjoying things in a worldly way, we guarrantee that we will suffer from things in a worldly way.  There are many more objects of worldly suffering than worldly happiness, so this is a rational trade-off.  Further, we will learn to be able to enjoy worldly pleasures in a spiritual way, which is much better, so we have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

Every adversity both teaches us some truth of Dharma and gives us some opportunity to train our mind. In this way, our suffering becomes a cause of our enlightenment.

What we lack is (1) a stronger wish to attain enlightenment than to enjoy a pleasant life, and (2) the wisdom necessary to know how the adversity we are facing is exactly perfect for our spiritual training.

If we wish to enjoy samsara more than to accomplish spiritual goals, knowing how to transform our suffering into the path won’t work to help us maintain a peaceful mind in the face of life’s difficulties. We will think, “oh, that’s nice, but I don’t care. I just want my suffering to stop and the external thing is the cause of my suffering or cause of my happiness.” But when we want to accomplish spiritual goals more, it all works. We become willing to accept difficulties – meaning we can keep our inner peace in the face of them – because we know they are moving us closer to our much more important spiritual goals. Fundamentally, we understand that whether we are happy or not depends upon our mind, so the only way to be happy is to change our mind – our external situation is almost irrelevant.

Dorje Shugden can help with both of these things we lack. For the first, he is the protector of the Kadam Dharma or Kadam Lamrim. The actual Dharma only exists within our mind. He protects the flourishing of the Dharma within our mind. The quintessential butter that comes from churning the milk of Dharma is bodhichitta, the wish to attain enlightenment. Just as all rivers eventually flow into the ocean, all Dharmas flow into the mind of bodhichitta. The Lamrim principally functions to change what we want from worldly happiness to spiritual goals, up to the wish to attain enlightenment.

For the second, Dorje Shugden is a wisdom Buddha, an emanation of Manjushri. His blessings are particularly powerful to help us understand how what we are facing in life is perfect for our next step in our spiritual journey. All we need is faith in him and a pure spiritual motivation. We then make requests that he arrange what is best and that he bless our mind to see how what is happening is best for us. When we receive these blessings, we then see and know. This enables us to accept our situation and get to work on transforming our adversity into the path.

Just as Dorje Shugden can do all this for us, he can also do all this for those we love. It may not be as quick or as obvious how this is happening, but since he, those we love, and ourself are all empty, it is definite it is happening. We gradually karmically reconstruct our empty world.

Because the methods we have are perfectly reliable, all we need is the perseverance necessary to never give up and both we and all those we love will get there in the end. This is why it is the Joyful Path. We know the final outcome is assured.

New Year’s Day is of course preceded by New Year’s Eve.  The evening before is usually when friends get together to celebrate the coming of the new year.  Sometimes Kadampas become a social cynic, looking down on parties like this, finding them meaningless and inherently samsaric.  They mistakenly think it is somehow a fault to enjoy life and enjoy cultural traditions.  This is wrong.

If we are invited to a New Year’s party, we should go without thinking it is inherently meaningless.  Geshe-la wants us to attain the union of Kadampa Buddhism and modern life.  New Year’s Eve parties are part of modern life, so our job is to bring the Dharma into them.  Venerable Tharchin said that our ability to help others depends upon two things:  the depth of our Dharma realizations and the strength of our karmic connections with living beings.  Doing things with friends as friends helps build those karmic bonds.  Even if we are unable to discuss any Dharma, at the very least, we can view such evenings as the time to cultivate our close karmic bonds with people.  Later, in dependence upon these bonds, we will be able to help them perhaps in Dharma and non-Dharma ways.

One question that often comes up at most New Year’s Eve parties is what to do about the fact that most everyone else is drinking or consuming other intoxicants.  Most of us have Pratimoksha vows, so this can create a problem or some awkward moments for ourself or for the person who is throwing the party.  Best, of course, is if you have an open and accepting relationship with your friends where you can say, “you can do whatever you want, but I am not going to.”  It’s important that we don’t adopt a judgmental attitude towards others who might drink, etc.  We each make our own choices and it is not up to us to judge anyone else.  We might even make ourselves the annual “designated driver.”  Somebody has to be, so it might as well be the Buddhist!

If we are at a party where we can’t be open about being a Buddhist, which can happen depending upon our karmic circumstance, what I usually do is drink orange juice or coke for most of the night, but then at midnight when they pass around the glasses of Champagne I just take one, and without a fuss when it comes time, I just put it to my lips like I am drinking but I am not actually doing so.  If we don’t make an issue out of it, nobody will notice.  Why is this important?  Because when we say we don’t drink, they will ask why.  Then we say because we are a Buddhist.  Implicitly, others can take our answer to mean we are saying we think it is immoral to drink, so others might feel judged. When they do, they then reject Buddhism, and create the karma of doing so. We may feel “right,” but we have in fact harmed those around us. What is the most moral thing to do depends largely upon our circumstance. It goes without saying that others are far more likely to feel judged by us if in fact we are judging everyone around us! We all need to get off our high horse and just love others with an accepting attitude.

Fortunately, most Kadampa centers now host a New Year’s Eve party.  This is ideal.  If our center doesn’t, then ask to host one yourself at the center.  This gives our Sangha friends an alternative to the usual New Year’s parties.  We can get together at the center, have a meal together, do a puja together and just hang out together as friends.  We are people too, not just Dharma practitioners, so it is important to be “exactly as normal.”  If our New Year’s party is a lot of fun, then people will want to come again and again; and perhaps even invite their friends along.  It is not uncommon to do either a Tara practice or an Amitayus practice.   Sometimes centers organize a retreat weekend course over New Year’s weekend.  For several years in Geneva, we would do Tara practice in six sessions at the house of a Sangha member.  The point is, try make it time together with your Sangha family.  Christmas is often with our regular family, New Year’s can be with our spiritual family.

But it is equally worth pointing out there is absolutely nothing wrong with spending a quiet evening at home alone, or with a few friends or members of your family. Just because everybody else is making a big deal out of it and going to parties doesn’t mean we should feel any pressure to do the same. I personally have never enjoyed the party scene, even when others are not getting drunk, etc. I much prefer a quiet evening or a solitary retreat. There is nothing wrong with this, and if that is how we prefer to bring in the New Year, we should do so without guilt or hesitation.

What I used to do (and really should start doing again), is around New Year’s I would take the time to go through all the 250+ vows and commitments of Kadampa Buddhism and reflect upon how I was doing.  I would try look back on the past year and identify the different ways I broke each vow, and I would try make plans for doing better next year.  If you are really enthusiastic about this, you can make a chart in Excel where you rank on a scale of 1 to 10 how well you did on each vow, and then keep track of this over the years.  Geshe-la advises that we work gradually with our vows over a long period of time, slowly improving the quality with which we keep them.  Keeping track with a self-graded score is a very effective way of doing this.  New Year’s is a perfect time for reflecting on this.

Ultimately, New Year’s Day itself is no different than any other.  It is very easy to see how its meaning is merely imputed by mind.  But that doesn’t mean it is not meaningful, ultimately everything is imputed by mind.  The good thing about New Year’s Day is everyone agrees it marks the possibility for a new beginning.  It is customary for people to make New Year’s Resolutions, things they plan on doing differently in the coming year.  Unfortunately, it is also quite common for people’s New Year’s Resolutions to not last very long.

But at Kadampas, we can be different.  The teachings on impermanence remind us that “nothing remains for even a moment” and that the entire world is completely recreated anew every moment.  New Year’s Day is a good day for recalling impermanence.  Everything that happened in the previous year, we can just let it go and realize we are moving into a new year and a new beginning.  We should make our New Year’s resolutions spiritual ones.  It is best, though, to make small changes that you make a real effort to keep than large ones that you know won’t last long.  Pick one or two things you are going to do differently this year.  Make it concrete and make sure it is doable.  A former student of mine would pick one thing that she said she was going to make her priority for the coming year, and then throughout the year she would focus on that practice. I think this is perfect. Another Sangha friend of mine would every year ask for special advice about what they should work on in the coming year. This is also perfect.

When you make a determination, make sure you know why you are doing it and the wisdom reasons in favor of the change are solid in your mind.  On that basis, you will be able to keep them.  Making promises that you later break creates terrible karma for ourselves which makes it harder and harder to make and keep promises in the future. We create the habit of never following through, and that makes the practice of moral discipline harder and harder.

Just because we are a Kadampa does not mean we can’t have fun like everyone else on New Year’s Eve.  It is an opportunity to build close karmic bonds with others, especially our spiritual family.  We can reflect upon our behavior over the previous year and make determinations about how we will do better in the year to come.

I pray that all of your pure wishes in the coming year be fulfilled, and that all of the suffering you experience becomes a powerful cause of your enlightenment.  I pray that all beings may find a qualified spiritual path and thereby find meaning in their life.  I also pray that nobody die tonight from drunk driving, but everyone makes it home safe.  Since that is unlikely to come true, I pray that Avalokiteshvara swiftly take all those who die to the pure land where they may enjoy everlasting joy.