Audio recorded at Tibetan Buddhist Institute, Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 9.5-minute talk, Kyabje Rinpoche teaches a practical approach to merit dedication for those unfamiliar with elaborate forms: simply align your intention with how bodhisattvas like Mañjuśrī dedicate. He illustrates the principle with a story set at the Jowo statue in Lhasa. A local woman recites extensive dedication prayers; an Amdowa nomad behind her, unsure of the words, decides his dedication will simply match hers. That shorthand dedication works, because sincere intention is what matters. Rinpoche extends the analogy: in any endeavor, if you lack knowledge but align with the skilled, your effort serves its purpose. The teaching is especially useful for those beginning formal merit dedication practice.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 1989-11-02 – 22B – KR.mp3
UUID: 4729b701-1586-428e-9a41-503e323a68f1
Teacher: Kyabje Rinpoche
Collection: Ornament of Clear Realization
Date: 1989-11-02
Recorded at: Tibetan Buddhist Institute, Adelaide
Words: ~588
The Mañjuśrī, the hero, has known and so forth. That is normally considered a wise dedication for people who don’t know how to dedicate. Because when people don’t know, they can just think how great bodhisattvas like Mañjuśrī and so forth, whatever dedication they do, may I also, may my dedication be also like that. And that’s how that works is because these bodhisattvas are primarily represented by Mañjuśrī, because these all the time they do millions and millions of dedication. Therefore, if you just work or dedicate thinking, may my dedication become like Mañjuśrī, then somehow it goes towards that direction how the bodhisattvas do their dedications.
So it’s in the prayer. So Rinpoche will or I recall an incident in the past in Tibet, the capital city in Lhasa, and there is a famous statue of Buddha called Jowo statue and That’s where normally people would go and pay their respects in queue, long queue. The around Lhasa, Tibetan ladies around Lhasa, normally, because of having attended so many teachings, they can say so many different kinds of prayers so spontaneously that even somebody like Rinpoche himself may not be able to say prayers like them. They are just so used to saying that they can repeat whole, what are called bunch of auspicious prayers in dedication that they would go on saying. And what happens once, there was a long queue for seeing the Jowo statue.
And when you get in front of the statue, you just put your forehead at the base, and then you just pray what you have, and then leave, and make the other person next one room for him. So it happens like that. And then there was this Lhasa lady who normally, like all other Lhasa ladies, was very good in saying dedication prayers. And behind him is one Amdowa. So Amdowa is a very good word in Tibetan, a nickname for nomadic special group of nomad in mountain who are very famous for their jokes about how they normally pretend things.
That’s why when you say Amdowa, there’s a great laugh about them. So this Amdowa nomad, he was behind this Lhasa woman, and he didn’t know very much about dedication. And he listened to what the previous lady, old lady was saying on the dedication. And he thought, oh, that’s a whole lot of dedication and it’s really good. And when his turn came, he just said, oh, whatever that lady said, mine was exactly like them.
So in meaning, it actually worked. Now it will serve the purpose. For example, if there’s a meeting and if normally a talkative person, if he goes and saying so many things and other normally who are withdrawn and silent, they may not be able to say much. But if they think what the talkative person is saying, then if they think they can support. And at the end, if they say, yes, we we are exact whatever all our opinions are exactly as this person has said.
So in meaning, how it works, it serves the purpose. So if we are not able to do extensive dedication and we don’t know, then it’s just enough to do this way or whatever the bodhisattvas like bodhisattva manjushri and others have are dedicated and are doing dedication. My dedication may become same like them. And if you do that, that will, that will be good enough. Yeah.
Not good to miss out. No. So I’m gonna stop here.