Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 60-minute teaching, Lama Zopa Rinpoche explores the transformative power of the Golden Light Sūtra and its four national benefits: protection from enemies, elimination of sickness, increased lifespan, and auspiciousness. He then examines the sūtra’s confession chapter, explaining how its recitation purifies obscurations so thoroughly that practitioners avoid lower rebirth for sixty eons. Rinpoche emphasizes the necessity of proper motivation—enlightenment not for oneself alone but for all sentient beings—and demonstrates how the merit of this single altruistic intention vastly exceeds that of material offerings filling entire universes. He concludes with practical instruction: reading even one page of the Golden Light Sūtra daily transforms one’s life and contributes to world peace.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 3 GLSC 2004 05 30.mp3
UUID: 7f436f1c-7b87-44a5-a8dc-c55d0aa035ce
Teacher: Lama Zopa Rinpoche 1
Collection: y Golden Light Sūtra Collection (Lama Zopa Rinpoche 1)
Date: 2004-05-30
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 60.1 minutes
Words: ~1,707
So what are the four benefits to that country where this teaching is done, Golden Light Sūtra? And the country one cannot be harmed by the enemy. Another country or this enemy, you see, by developing their power, then it attacking the country doesn’t happen. And then it eliminates sicknesses. People in the country, they’re teaching where the teaching is done, it eliminates sicknesses.
So it becomes healing also people in the country. And it becomes it becomes a long life for the people. It causes long life for the people in the country. And everything to be auspicious. And then with the peace and happiness, reveal the perfect pure dharma.
Ministers or the princes, prince of princes, all those people, bring harmonies, the Sanghas, monks, nuns, you know, who are in the virtue of training — Brahmas and so forth, however, all they will engage to practice of the Dharma, won’t have sicknesses, and sudden, you know, sudden sudden death, no, do not experience. And then one will complete all the collections of — so able to collect all the merits and able to protect. Then all the devas, they always protect you. They have no thought. So devas, so could be all the spirit, you see, no thought to harm you.
Then the sentient beings in the country, they go for refuge to Buddha Dharma Sangha. I did my prayer to accomplish the Buddha’s Śākyamūni deeds. So the four guardians told Buddha, whoever is preserving this teaching, the four guardians, they said, we will abide. We’ll be there and benefit. So then Buddha responded to yes.
Yes. And the Buddha asked the four guardians that this Golden Light Sūtra to last long time in this world and to to to to develop, you know, they should help. They should, you know, put effort. Dedicating the three kayas. This is a fourth chapter — confession in the dream by reciting this prayer dedication.
If you recite this, you know, the the confession from confession prayer from the Sūtra, if you recite this, it says here, so for sixty eons, you abandon the lower realms. You don’t get reborn with lower realms. It has this benefit. And also, liberation is in the palm of your hand, when he talks about after the karma, when he talks about the confession, then Pabongkha Dechen Nyingpo brought this name of this chapter, you know, from Golden Light Sūtra confession. So it’s advised, you know, as a source one can recite.
So here you can see how very powerful it is for purification. It is mentioned here, hearing hearing this teaching the in the dream, you see, from the golden drum, praise to the Buddhas and then the confession with karma. So this prayer, anyone who hear this will collect extensive merit. Everyone who hear this confession prayer, you see, this chapter, they will collect extensive merit. Everyone who hear this can benefit so many sentient beings and can make so many sentient beings satisfied with happiness and purifies all the defilements.
So it says here, one should know, one should have knowledge of this. Why? Because — why you get so the all this incredible opportunity, you know, to listen — to be able to listen to Golden Light Sūtra and they all get all this, you know but hearing this chapter, you know, the confession chapter, why you get so much benefit? It’s because in the past that you had praised the Buddha’s Tathagatas. This is due to — you know, in the past, you have done extensive prayers.
So this why you have so much opportunity to hear the chapter the chapter of confession, and each, and you get some of the benefit. It goes — cause is in the past, you have done extensive prayer. And due to the blessings of the Tathagatas, then then you hear this teaching, this precious. Before the death comes, I must make sure to receive the very good rebirth and to receive high rebirth. Make sure immediately to have that success.
That alone is sufficient and must be free from saṃsāra. Otherwise, I — I will experience suffering from saṃsāra. I will have to suffer continuously. No. And so must must achieve liberation from saṃsāra.
That alone is not sufficient. That’s not the real purpose of my life. You know, it’s even liberation for myself. Real purpose of my life is to benefit others. So therefore, I must free sentient beings from — freedom of the sentient beings who want happiness, who do not want suffering from all their suffering and causes of suffering, realizing enlightenment. I must free them from all the suffering causes and be able to achieve enlightenment — not about myself alone.
Therefore, I must achieve enlightenment, and therefore, I’m going to listen to oral transmission of the Golden Light Sūtra. Now, that’s the motivation, bodhicitta. Okay? And then for the world peace — for the world peace. There’s so much suffering. World killing, torture, famine, disease, so much suffering.
So world peace and special peace in Mongolia and to enjoy the — everybody enjoy the pure Dharma. So we put palms together like this, then you collect limitless oceans of merit. And it is said that in Sūtra — Gandavyuha Sūtra that if you fill with seven precious jewels and offer, universe is filled with the seven precious jewels, gold, silver, diamond, everything. How many universe? You can remember the seven grains of sand of the Pacific Ocean.
Then you offer to the Buddhas. It serves unbelievable merit, but you compare generating bodhicitta, put palms together and simply generate bodhicitta — the mind of enlightenment, and benefit for sentient beings. This one quite far more — the merit is greater than this is the previous one. The universe equal in above the atoms of the Pacific Ocean filled up with seven precious jewels — they were offering to Buddhas. So those offerings become small.
See, you should remember this this incredible benefit every time when we generate bodhicitta, so good to remember. So, something purpose of my life is to not just to achieve happiness for myself, only not just only to solve my problems and to benefit others. So therefore, I must free them from all the numberless sentient beings — that means from whom I receive all my past and present happiness and my past present happiness — freedom from all the samsaric causes and bring them in full enlightenment. Therefore, therefore, I must achieve enlightenment. Therefore, I must achieve enlightenment.
And therefore, I’m going to listen to oral transmission of the Golden Light Sūtra. Okay. He said, as soon as the Golden Light Sūtra exists in the world, then the Buddhadharma exists. But when Golden Light Sūtra doesn’t exist in world, then also Buddhadharma do not exist in the world. Done up to fifty chapters of the sūtra.
Purpose of my life is not just only to achieve happiness for myself. To solve to solve only my own problems. Purpose of my life is to free the numberless sentient beings from the oceans of samsaric suffering and bring them in full enlightenment. Therefore, I must achieve enlightenment. Therefore, I need to experience the path, process of all that, and to bring peace in the world as well as in the you see, to stop war, famine, disease, torture, poverty, sicknesses, and dangers of fire or water, earthquakes, all those undesirable things in the world, and especially Mongolia, say, and to bring peace and to have a peace, prosperity, outer prosperity, and inner prosperity. The general loving kindness compassion, Buddhadharma, the inner heart, and also realization of all enlightenment.
So for the for this purpose, then one wishes to be able to offer, able to offer extensive service to teaching of Buddha and sentient beings. So I’m gonna listen to the, say, oral transmission of the Golden Light Sūtra. So it is said here, the country where the Golden Light Sūtra is read, so the guardians, the protectors of the guardians would come there and they will always protect and abide with the people who recite this, who read in the country itself. The king, they won’t receive enemies, harms, sicknesses, sorrows, that they will have long life, happiness, and auspicious, all the wishes will will be fulfilled and always have happy mind. The king and the unrighteous, if anyone attacking, you can you can you can subdue them, able to defeat him, subdue him.
So the king abiding in the Dharma, then all the people also, then they will abide in Dharma. So they then also it is mentioned where this sūtra where this Golden Light Sūtra is read, then the king of that country and the ministers, all those, they receive these full benefits. They respect each other and where they become like, say, friend. Everyone become friend. Then the Sanghas, Brahmas, so even the small district district, they all abstain from non virtue.
They all look for Dharma. So it was about there’s many many benefits. You know? Reading this benefits the country, the king, and the people around. Also in the country where this text is read, the Golden Light Sūtra, then the people won’t have sicknesses, they will have much happiness, wealth, enjoyments, and the jewels.
So this could be achieved, and merit will be increased, and they will have so much benefit. In daily life, one one I’d say one of the things to make your life meaningful most meaningful is to read Golden Light Sūtra even one page. However, whatever time you have, even at least one page or even few lines to read each day, even few lines, even not one, not whole page, even just few lines, that will make that will make incredible differences, yeah, that you see, I mean, your whole life. So that’s incredible. So this is mainly why makes our life so easy to be free from suffering and to achieve happiness enlightenment.
Buddha had left — Buddha left such a precious teaching. So that’s due to Buddha’s compassion. Due to Buddha’s compassion for us all, something brings so easy to free from sufferings or the problems, bring bring us to enlightenment.