Mar - Apr Issue - Amitabha Buddhist Centre

good heart, if not bodhicitta realisation, as much aspossible. With simply a good heart we give no harmand only benefit to sentient beings. In that way we canbe the cause of happiness for other sentient beings. Asmuch great compassion as possible, is what is reallyneeded in the heart of everybody in the world.To create the cause, talk is not enough. To generatecompassion and bodhicitta we need a great deal ofmerit. Therefore you can see how important it is tobuild the Maitreya statue and to actualise bodhicitta.The great holy being Lotsawa Rinchen Zangpo wroteon a stone in Ladakh that building Maitreya statueshelps decrease famine all over the world. Every year,countless people all over the world die from famine,sickness and weapons, so the more Maitreya statues webuild, the less this happens.as possible in the world to generate the good heart.That will bring much more peace and happiness inthe world and at the same time all undesirable thingswill decrease: economic problems, disease, war andtsunamis and so forth; all such things will be pacified.The Maitreya ProjectRegarding the Maitreya statue, it’s true that we madesome mistakes. This was due to karma. We discoveredmuch later that we made some wrong decisions withrespect to expecting more money for Maitreya after wespent some or hoping to get a big amount and so forth.That didn’t work out. So we did make some mistakesalong the way.However, there are no words left to thank Peter Kedge,the past director of the Maitreya Project. For the pastfifteen years he has sincerely dedicated one hundredpercent of the efforts of his body, speech and mind tothe Maitreya statue. Amazing! Amazing! Amazing! It isamazing the way he has dedicated his life to this. Fromthe depths of my heart, I really, really want to thankPeter and express my appreciation for him. There reallyare no words left to thank him.Join us in a practice of giving to the 12 types of guestsSunday 31 March 2013, 1.30 pm6 Performed by Khen Rinpoche Geshe • Transcendental guests—lineage lamas, 7Chonyi and ABC sanghaSo it is my dedication and plan to build large Maitreyastatues, not small, like tsa-tsa’s, but one storey or morethan one storey high, as many as possible, in thisworld, so that such problems become fewer and allthe benefits that I have mentioned accrue. So buildingthe Maitreya statue also has this last benefit that Imentioned.Even the name Maitreya, ‘Gyalwa Jampa’, means“Victorious Loving Kind One”. One of my main aimsin building the Maitreya statue is for as many peopleI also want to thank from my heart all the past directorsof the Maitreya Project and Ven. Pende Hawter, MarcelBertels, all the kind benefactors, and the many otherpeople and companies who dedicated their time andenergy as well.All their work and our many years of experience willserve as the basis for building the statue in Bodhgaya.Also, I hope that we will be able to build large Maitreyastatues in other countries. So all that has happened hasbeen very useful, very important experience, for thefuture and for the many other large statues that I hopewill be built in this world.Now the responsibility for the Maitreya Project passesto our most kind Nita Ing. She has been a greatsupporter of the FPMT organisation for many, manyyears and through her immeasurable kindness Nita isgoing to actualise the Maitreya statue. So I rejoice andI ask you to please rejoice too.Finally, I request anybody who wants to achieve thebenefits I have mentioned above and especially wants tobenefit sentient beings in this world to please continuehelping the Maitreya Statue Project in whatever wayyou can so that this time we will be able to overcomethe obstacles and actually see the statue.Transcribed by Ven. Holly Ansett, USA, August 2012; edited by DrNick Ribush, November 2012. Further edited for TASHI DELEK.The original letter can be found at www.maitreyaproject.orgThis Qing Ming, honour your ancestors anddeceased loved ones through a practice of extensivegiving. Dedicate for them to receive the vast meritsthat will sweep away their negative karma and helpthem in their future rebirths.Generating the vast compassionate qualities ofChenresig (Guan Yin), two kinds of offerings are made.First, water is offered to the wealth deities White andYellow Dzambhala. The blessed water is then offered tothe hungry ghosts, intermediate state beings and thenagas.Next, with a bodhicitta motivation, specially prepareddough balls are offered to the 12 types of guests,transformed into oceans of nectar that satisfies them.Offering to the transcendental guests invokes theirblessings while offering to the worldly beings dispelsharms and repays our karmic debts. Thus we accumulatemerit through our practice of generosity and fromhaving pleased the respective guests:meditational deities, the Three Jewels, Dharmaprotectors, sages and wealth deities• Worldly beings—local deities, landlords, yakshas,interferers and spirits• Sentient beings of the six realms• Hungry ghosts• Spirits to whom we owe karmic debts from ourpast acts of killing, beating and stealing• Intermediate state beings• Remaining guests, the most pitifully weak amongthe hungry ghostsThrough this 100 Torma Offering Ritual [Tibetan:torma gyatsa] we bring bliss and happiness to all theinvited guests, dedicate for the happiness of belovedancestors, and create the cause for our own happiness.- Dedications can be made for the benefit of all persons,living or deceased.- Donations are voluntary. Any amount is welcome.- No registration required. Drop off your dedications/ donations at Reception by 1.30 pm on 31 March.- All present will get to sip the water blessed by theDzambhala wealth deities.