Lama Zopa Rinpoche teaching at 100 Million Mani Retreat, Istituto Lama Tzong Khapa, Italy, 2017. Photo by Lobsang Sherab.

The FPMT Global Mani Retreat is in its final month!  Since its start on May 17, the retreat has included teachings from Khen Rinpoche Geshe Thubten Chonyi, a rare oral transmission and commentary from His Eminence Ling Rinpoche, and a teaching on bodhichitta from Serkong Tsenshap, among many other highlights. Regional teachers have also led regular online Chenrezig group practices on Zoom and YouTube. Recently, Ven. Robina Courtin led the group practice ( you can watch the video here ),and Kabir Saxena, representing FPMT in India, led the Chenrezig sadhana, with an introduction of Dr. Nick Ribush about the unique FPMT history (you can watch the video here)

A recent cause for rejoicing related to this retreat was the 14th annual 100 Million Mani Retreat held at Idgaa Choizinling Monastery in Ulaanbaatar which drew about 150–250 people a day and ended in the accumulation of 109,208,246 mantras, passing its 100 million goal. 

To celebrate the ongoing FPMT Global Mani Retreat  which has brought together students of Lama Zopa Rinpoche from around the world to help fulfill one of Rinpoche’s most cherished wishes, we are sharing this excerpt from the revised second edition of Teaching from the  Mani Retreat by Lama Zopa Rinpoche: recently released from the Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive. 

This is another way to generate a motivation of bodhicitta before reciting the mantra, to make the recitation of mantra and the meditation on Compassion Buddha become not only Dharma but most beneficial not only for you but for every single hell being, hungry ghost, animal, human being, asura, sura and intermediate state being. Each realm has numberless beings. In the human realm there are numberless human beings. We can understand that there are numberless beings in the animal realm. Even regarding one type of insect, ants, there are numberless ants. In the same way, there are many other different types of animals, the number of which is uncountable. This is without mentioning the sentient beings in the other realms. All these beings, who are the source of all your own past, present and future happiness, are continuously suffering; totally overwhelmed by delusions and karma, they do not have any freedom at all. Even though there are numberless buddhas and bodhisattvas working for sentient beings, there are many sentient beings—people, and even animals—who received help only through meeting you. They had some problem they couldn’t resolve until they met you and you were able to help them. Or they didn’t meet Dharma until they met you. You have had many such experiences of sentient beings being dependent upon your help. There are numberless beings with whom you have a karmic connection and who depend upon you. Their being free from suffering, from samsara, and their achieving liberation and enlightenment depend on you, on your help. You can understand from your experiences in this life with the many beings who depend on your help that there are also numberless other beings who depend on your help to free them from samsara. They depend on you to meet, understand and practice Dharma, and to achieve enlightenment.

Now think, If I had generated bodhicitta much earlier, this one hell being who is dependent on me wouldn’t have to experience this unimaginable, unbearable suffering, the heaviest suffering in samsara. One tiny spark of the fire of the hot hells is seven times hotter than the fire at the end of the world, which can melt rocky mountains and concrete. And the fire at the end of the world is sixty or seventy times hotter than the fire energy of our present human world.

For one hell being to be suffering now in the hell realm even for one second is like eons-it is unbearable. If I had generated bodhicitta much earlier, that hell being would already have been enlightened. Now we are talking about just one hell being, but there are numberless other hell beings who could have already been enlightened by me, so that they wouldn’t now have to suffer. They have been suffering up to now because I have been following the selfcherishing thought, the ego. Therefore, even when I think of this one hell being who is experiencing unimaginable suffering, it becomes urgent that I generate bodhicitta without even a second’s delay. Now there are numberless hell beings; therefore, I need to generate bodhicitta without the delay of even a second. Because there are numberless hell beings who are suffering, the need for me to generate bodhicitta is much more urgent.

If I had generated bodhicitta much earlier, this one preta being, who is so precious and kind and from whom I receive all my past, present and future happiness would have already been enlightened. But because I followed self-cherishing thought, this one preta being has been suffering so much, experiencing all the unbearable sufferings of heat, cold, exhaustion, hunger and thirst, outer obscurations, food obscurations and inner obscurations. And there are numberless preta beings. If I had generated bodhicitta earlier, all these numberless preta beings would already have been enlightened. Because I didn’t generate bodhicitta, they have been suffering up to now. Therefore, it is urgent: I must generate bodhicitta without the delay of even a second, not just for this one hungry ghost but for the numberless hungry ghosts.

If I had generated bodhicitta much earlier, this one animal who has been suffering so much up to now-being extremely foolish, experiencing hunger and thirst, heat and cold, being tortured, used for food—would already have been enlightened a long time ago. There are numberless animals, and they would all have already been enlightened if I had generated bodhicitta much earlier. It is because I didn’t generate bodhicitta but followed the ego that they have been suffering up to now. Therefore, the need for me to generate bodhicitta, to change my mind, is unbelievably urgent, not only for this one animal but for the numberless animals who have been experiencing so much suffering.

And it is the same with human beings. If I had generated bodhicitta, if I had changed my mind, a long time ago, this one human being, who is constantly suffering, would already have been enlightened. Instead, they are experiencing the suffering of pain; if not that, the suffering of change; and if not that, pervasive compounding suffering, by having these aggregates, this samsara, the nature of which is suffering. These aggregates are caused by karma and delusions and are contaminated by the seed of disturbing thoughts, so this person constantly, without the break of even one second, experiences pervasive compounding suffering. In this way, this human being is totally overwhelmed by delusion and karma, living in a total hallucination, with piles of wrong concepts, and suffering in that way. If I had generated bodhicitta earlier, this most precious and kind human being who has been suffering up to now and who is the source of all my own past, present and future happiness, would already have been enlightened and not have to suffer. And there are numberless human beings. Because I did not change my mind but followed the ego, not only this one human being but numberless human beings have been suffering during time without beginning up to now. Therefore, without the delay of even a second, I must change my mind into bodhicitta, into cherishing others.

It is similar with the suras. If I had generated bodhicitta much earlier, this one sura being who has been suffering so much would have been enlightened a long time ago. The sufferings of the suras are similar to those I mentioned for human beings. Suras are also totally distracted by objects of desire; they cling to and are distracted by sense pleasures. No matter how many eons they live, their life is totally overwhelmed by desire. In this way, they suffer so much and are constantly creating the cause of suffering, the cause to again be reborn in the lower realms. Their having great enjoyments is just temporary. How wonderful it would have been if this one sura being could have been enlightened a long time ago. And there are numberless sura beings who would have been enlightened a long time ago. How fantastic if that could have happened. Because I didn’t change my mind, but instead followed only the ego, not only this one being but numberless sura beings have been suffering up to now. And it is similar with the asuras.

My kind mother sentient beings have been suffering from time without beginning; they have never had a break for even one second from the suffering of samsara, from pervasive compounding suffering. Therefore, without delay, I must generate bodhicitta. Generating bodhicitta depends on receiving the blessing of the special deity of compassion. Trying to develop bodhicitta just by remembering the words of the teachings is not enough. Even meditation alone is not enough. I need to receive the blessings of the special deity of compassion. For that reason, I need to meditate on Compassion Buddha and to recite the mantra that persuades Compassion Buddha’s holy mind. I need to recite the mantra that brings me closer to the deity of compassion, that causes me to receive the blessings of the deity of compassion. Therefore, I’m going to do the meditation-recitation of Compassion Buddha.

Excerpt from Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s book Teachings from the Mani Retreat bestowed at Chenrezig Institute, December 2000, Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive. You can also read this book online, or listen to an audio recording from the retreat.

To keep up on all details related to the FPMT Global MANI Retreat, please refer to our webpage, and join the Facebook Group. 

Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition (FPMT) is a Tibetan Buddhist organization dedicated to the transmission of the Mahayana Buddhist tradition and values worldwide through teaching, meditation, and community service.