Tashi Delek - Amitabha Buddhist Centre

have made andthe courageyou havedisplayed.”helpers, see if he could identify themcorrectly. The conclusion from thisexercise is that most of these studentshave grown beyond recognition!World”,into “Heal the Heart”,tweaking the lyrics into praises ofdharma. The audience gamely joinedin singing the chorus of this song.Ng Swee Kim, our former Treasurer,paid tribute to Geshela with a littlespeech expressing thanks on behalfof the Basic Program students,for his patience and courage inteaching us: “The milestone ofyour teaching career at ABC thusfar must have happened whenyou decided that for our sake,you would teach us the lowertantric path in English yourselfwithout having an interpreter athand. From being hardly able tounderstand our Singlish when youfirst arrived to being able to teach ustantra in English, you have come along long way just for our sake. Wesalute you for those gigantic strides youAs muchas Geshelaappeared tobe enjoyinghimselfin the audience,the party organisers did not pass upthe opportunity to include Geshela inthe fun and games. In a game called“Baby Who?” Geshela was asked toview baby photos of ten of his students,and with support from a team ofThe grand finale for the eveningbrought together all the organisersand performers in a Bollywoodinspireddance, bopping to theupbeat rhythms of “Jai Ho” from themovie, “Slumdog Millionaire”.It demanded an encore assome in the audience couldnot resist getting on their feetto dance along.Was the evening a success? Youcould say yes, “there is everypervasion” to borrow from TakeFong’s song, because Geshelasaid he enjoyed himself. And thatwas what really mattered.Here are the last couple of linesfrom Swee Kim’s words to Geshela:“To quote Lama ZopaRinpoche,your presence at Amitabha BuddhistCentre is so good for all the studentsand has brought so much harmonyto the centre that it is difficult to seehow it could be better. We requestyou from the depths of our heartsto continue to turn the wheel ofDharma for us so that your beaconof light, which is the source of hopeand happiness for so many of us,will continue to shine brightly andwithout wavering from our humblecorner in Geylang Lorong 25A.”My very dearBrothers andSisters,Human life ismuch more precious thanmountains of gold and diamonds,more than the world filled withwish granting jewels, becausewithout this precious human lifewe cannot be liberated. Withall this wealth alone we cannotachieve higher rebirth, (especiallythe) extremely difficult to achievehuman rebirth, so impossible toachieve cessation of the oceanof suffering of cyclic existence,including the cause; karma anddelusion.Not only that, but the greatliberation of enlightenmentcannot be achieved for sentientbeings, that which benefits thenumberless sentient beings. Ofcourse that means one cannotliberate the numberless sentientbeings who are most dear, mostprecious, most kind from theoceans of samsaric suffering andits cause. Not only that, but onecannot bring them into the greatliberation of enlightenment, whichis the cessation of all the mistakesof the mind and completion of allthe qualities.Since so many people are all of asudden getting cancer, swine fluand other life- threatening diseasesand dying, which is happening allthe time, those who have faith,who are able to practice BuddhaDharma and who purify the pastnegative karma, will not experience(diseases) such as this swine flu.So here I am offering somesuggestion of a short practice, whatyou can easily try to read everyday.This very precious method fromBuddha, from the Buddha’steaching in the Kangyur (is called)“The Dharani Called Possessingthe Limbs of All the Buddhas” andis extremely worthwhile to try todo. Recite three times if possible,if not then one time. Buddhashas explained the benefits of thispractice are that you will not geta bad disease, harm from thefour elements of earth, water, fireand wind, poisoned, or a lifethreateningdisease, and that it willhelp you not to get reborn in thelower realms of hell, hungry ghostor animal and you will be ableto benefit the lives of all sentientbeings.The motivation is not only foryour own health and life success,think of all the sentient beings, tobenefit their life and to bring thempeace and happiness, not onlytemporary, but ultimate as well.Thank you very much.With much love and prayers,Lama Zopa