Sangngak Tenzin Rinpoche's Advice on Practice During the Coronavirus Pandemic

[Tibetan prayer] Good day, I am glad to welcome you all.

Today, at the request of my Dharma friends from Russia, I decided to record a short video message. Lungta reached out to me through Facebook. He works with video, so I thought it would be easy for him to arrange all this. I hope that in these difficult times this video message will be of some help to you. At present I am in retreat. For the second month now I have been doing my traditional practice in four separate sessions a day.

Since this leaves me little free time, I can unfortunately record only a very short message.

You all know about this illness, which is transmitted through the air from one person to another and has already spread very widely. To stop this epidemic, various measures are being taken all over the world: disinfection, quarantines, restrictions on people's movement, and much more. I consider this very important and right.

Ээээ. As for the inner causes of what is happening — as Mipham Rinpoche wrote in his seven-line prayer for the accomplishment of practice, we are now in a time of decline, the age of kaliyuga. Therefore, on the outer, inner, and secret levels, many causes arise for all kinds of obstacles. These obstacles are like a fierce hurricane. To overcome them, to remove them at the root, we must turn to refuge. For us, the supreme object of refuge and Dharma is Guru Rinpoche. A prayer addressed to him now will be incredibly effective.

It is said that, compared with other buddhas, in such hard times the compassion of Guru Rinpoche and his help are the most effective. Because long ago he made the aspiration to come to the aid of sentient beings precisely in times of decline. By virtue of this quality and his aspiration, if at this time we pray to him one-pointedly with all our heart, we will gain the chance to free ourselves from these obstacles. Such a prayer can help us remove them. So it is very important to recite, as much as possible, the seven-line prayer to Guru Rinpoche, as well as the Vajra Guru mantra. This whole situation with the pandemic, and the illness itself, arose through our common karma, accumulated by all sentient beings.

To deal with this state of affairs, we need a very powerful purifying practice, able to purify this karma. For this, one should apply the supreme practice — such as reciting the Vajra Guru mantra, because its recitation has the greatest benefit. Even a single recitation has a most powerful beneficial influence on this life, on our next life, and on the state of the bardo. It is said that its benefit is inconceivable. Therefore, if you take Guru Rinpoche as your yidam and recite the Vajra Guru mantra ten thousand or a hundred thousand times with great faith and concentration, then without doubt all outer, inner, and secret obstacles to your personal practice will be purified at once. Moreover, not only your own obstacles will be purified, but also those of others — of those who have fallen ill and suffer greatly.

If, while reciting this mantra, you make good wishes and dedication of merit, it will bring great benefit both to all sentient beings and to the preservation of the teachings, which is so important in such difficult times.

I will not speak too much. In closing, I only want to make a request to you.

Please recite as much as possible the Vajra Guru mantra, as well as the seven-line prayer.

Unfavorable circumstances and conditions often arise in our life unexpectedly, like a whirlwind, but however strong they may be — if your mind is like an unshakable mountain, they cannot harm you. It is important that your mind be stable and firm, like a rock. If, in just such a state, you recite the prayer to Guru Rinpoche and his mantra with firm faith and aspiration, it will bring the greatest benefit. Please keep this request and advice of mine deep in your heart. It is hard to say whether we will manage to meet this year or the next, but since we are all practitioners, certain commitments rest upon us that we must fulfill. Reciting prayers, taking refuge, generating bodhicitta, reciting the mantras I mentioned — all this is our extensive practice.

Please practice as much as you can. And do it in a perfect way: with right motivation at the beginning, great diligence in the middle, and dedication of merit at the end. With this I bid you farewell. Thank you very much.