Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 56-minute teaching, Lama Zopa Rinpoche uses two Buddhist narratives to frame the practical benefits of prostration and making offerings to holy objects. He opens with the story of Devadatta’s rebirth in the lower realms and the subsequent manifestation of a guru as Guru Rinpoche, who teaches liberation practices for those already born in hell. He then recounts how the first Buddha statue was created from the Buddha’s reflection in water, establishing a sacred lineage at Ratnagiri. The heart of the teaching sets out eight principal benefits of prostration: a perfect body and sense organs, a perfect circle of companions, capacity for pure morality—the foundation of all liberation—devotion to the path, a brave heart, precious human birth, and most importantly, access to the Ārya paths that culminate in wisdom perceiving emptiness directly, severing the root of samsaric suffering forever.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 2005 06 06 8 _2nd Nunnery pt2.mp3
UUID: a0f45f76-534a-4cab-84a4-183b1ee0309b
Teacher: Lama Zopa Rinpoche 1
Collection: z Taiwan (Lama Zopa Rinpoche 1)
Date: 2005-06-06
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 56.4 minutes
Words: ~1,438
Oops. And then they put cardboard on, you know, paint it with cardboard and then burn again in very, very high temperature. So they paint it and then they bake it? This is so. Yeah.
And then they paint it again? This is very excellent idea. This is made in China. It’s beautiful. It looks like yeah, it’s like those tires.
It’s hollow? I’m gonna say it’s a special. This is from Did you see the ceiling? Wow. Serious wow.
And look at this floor. Can you hold that for me, please? I think Peter Griffin’s not as well. Yeah. I’m gonna next need some clothes.
Just get hold of that. I’m just gonna I got it. Okay. I mean, this is the work card. It’s just it’s just incredible.
It’s just incredible. Thank you so much. Yeah. You got them? Yep.
The door. Oops. Good trip. I think it’s dangerous because you’re so busy looking at everything else. Uh-huh.
It has been signed. Yes. Yeah. And then then up there, goddess is holding light to make offerings. Okay.
Yeah. There are many more to go. I have also. I’m working with her. Ursula?
Osala? Can you hold this up for me, please? Is this a real show? Maybe we’ll just I’ll just chuck it up there, shall I? Thank you.
What’s the beck? Well, the beck’s offering goddesses as well. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
Wow. Wow. Sorry. So one that and I think stories being part of the remember clearly, but Devadatta, one Devadatta died and born in hell, born in the lower realms. Mhmm.
So then I think Indra or something request Buddha. So the Buddha manifested into into Guru Rinpoche. Mhmm. Gurig then gave initiation of the practice. Mhmm.
So Gurig, the Gurig ritual prayer is very powerful. Somebody who is already born in the lower realms, it’s a this deity is mainly for those who are already born in the lower realms, to liberate, to purify and come to liberate. So it’s called the king of the Also it is in the back, still by outside. Yes. Yes.
Just by the main door. Yes. Yes. That’s right. I think there’s there’s a story.
Maybe the maybe there’s a story that at the very beginning statue of Buddha. So a statue of the the painting of Buddha. So so they try to make a painting or a statue of a painting. Buddha could not easily make many paintings, but they could not could not make. Mhmm.
So what about what about Buddha’s reflection in the water. Mhmm. Then then they drew from that Mhmm. In the painting of Buddha, the very first. Mhmm.
So because of that because of that, you that that that statues, you see the statues standing on, it looks like there are ripples, like ripples. Uh-huh. On the Buddha Buddha, there’s a flow of flow of like water. The water what do you call this? Water ripples.
Water ripples. So so the original statue, that was original statue made from that reflection. So with the reflection. I think the statue is supposed to be in Ratnagiri. So there’s some like that.
So sometimes you see there’s some small statues or pictures, you know, pictures of that statue. Mhmm. Statue come there’s a lot of, you know, this Mhmm. throughout the world. So that’s that’s from that old text.
Mhmm. Yeah. One thing one thing to mention that When we see happiness, future lives, all that. Then that result you experience happiness in the future life, not just one future life, but a hundred thousand thousand, so much happiness we experience good. Then of course then of course, by the way, success in this life comes without needing to seek it.
Then we care to create the benefits. The first one is a perfect body. It causes a perfect body. Next. Perfect sense organs, perfect organs.
Nothing deformed or Uh-huh. Anything missing. Perfect body. Organ senses. Then let’s say, no, especially to benefit others.
Mhmm. Then likewise, taking ordination and so forth. So if you had a deformed body like that, you know, in perfect sense, they they put a lot of children to like to take ordination and things like that. So the next one, perfect. Then it cost it causes a perfect surrounding of people.
Then if you have a perfect surrounding of people, then you see that as a then you’re able to support you. Mhmm. But you’re able to benefit us. Uh-huh. So that’s the benefit of having a perfect surrounding of people.
The third benefit is that one is able to live in pure morality, one able to practice morality. Third benefit is, you know, it’s the basis of all of this. So the third is able to live morality, pure morality. So that’s the morality, there’s no liberation or enlightenment. So that’s the very foundation.
Even for the Guru yoga, next. So without morality, can’t receive the. So they cause the person to achieve morality. Then next photo, devotion. So without devotion again, then you can’t have any realization.
No. Can’t achieve any realization. So, say, devotion to the virtuous teacher, the sangha, and then also yeah. Without that, then there won’t be also faith in karma. So then fourth is a it makes us to achieve devotion.
Then the fifth one is brave heart. Brave heart. Brave brave heart so that you’re able to lead you’re able to to work for others and able to lead sentient beings. Then, six or seven. Six.
Then next slide, you get born as human. Uh-huh. Human, you get a precious human birth. Mhmm. So the number six.
Then seven. So by putting palms together to a holy object, it causes you to receive the exalted path, Ārya path, exalted path. The path, so the five paths: the path of accumulation, preparation path, seeing path, meditation path, no-more-learning path. So it causes the exalted path, the seeing path, meditation path and no-more-learning path, it could cause each of those paths.
So if you achieve this exalted path, which is wisdom directly perceiving emptiness, then that’s the one level where you can actually cease directly the the delusion. Delusion, the karma, the delusions. So by traversing the seeing path, you start to cease the, you know, the label one, intellectual, so the delusion, the level one. Then by traversing the meditation path, then you cease some of the some of this the delusions Mhmm. Mhmm.
The the the that ceased. So only by achieving the exalted path, then you’re able to remove the delusion, including a seed of delusion. Then one is able to achieve liberation from the whole entire suffering, including cycle of death and rebirth. You’re free forever. That that otherwise otherwise, you can’t be liberated totally totally from this.
So so it’s very important. So when we prostrate to Buddha, this is because it is very important. It creates the cause immediately. So that means that means if there’s one one hundred thousand in the temple, small or big. You know, when you when you do like this, I am prostrating, you see.
Mhmm. I told you to put that like this. Not you don’t have to think one one by one. There’s so many, you see. But, see, I am prostrating to all the Buddhas.
Mhmm. It’s good at that. Mhmm. Then I see, you can receive eight benefits of one eight benefits, you see, one hundred thousand times within that within that minute which is going like this. Mhmm.
I’m. There’s also ten benefits. Next slide, you get born in a king’s family. Uh-huh.
Then extensive form, then extensive wealth, extensive wisdom, extensive devotion, extensive concentration, and extensive wisdom, extensive realization. Yeah. I remember the every single ten, but Mhmm. There’s also ten benefits. Mhmm.
Yeah. extensive remembrance. Mhmm. So we have clear memories. So the ten is also you achieve.
The minute when you put the palms together to a holy object, to the Buddha. Mhmm. So there are many days. So you, you know, you go down and prostrate to an object. Mhmm.
You get that, you know, that’s one thousand. You could say ten benefits like that one hundred thousand times. Didn’t realize Roger wasn’t there. He must have not known where we were. Where’s the girls?
Is this actually gonna be a functioning is this gonna be a functioning nunnery? Yes. But this nun has spent — we are an exception. We’re an exception. We’re a co-op.
Better turn off the recorder while we go pee pee.