Lama Zopa Rinpoche

to achieve enlightenment. The other reasons were mentioned in the Heruka Body Mandala
transmitted by Pabongka Dechen Nyingpo, which I received from Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche
and Kyabje Zong Rinpoche.
There is a story that Heruka promised Pabongka Rinpoche that whoever practices Heruka
for seven lifetimes can be born in the Dakpa Khachö pure land. Similarly, Vajrayogini
promised this to Kyabje Lhatsun Rinpoche. Kyabje Denma Lochö Rinpoche received the
Vajrayogini initiation from him and I took it from Denma Lochö Rinpoche several times.
So, if we practice Vajrayogini for seven lifetimes, we will be guided in the pure land for up to
seven lifetimes.
If we’re born in that pure land we can definitely achieve enlightenment there. That is the
special benefit it has. It is very easy for common people to be born in the Amitabha pure
land but, although that frees you from the lower realms forever, you don’t have this special
opportunity.
Taking initiation: the samayas of the five buddha families
His Holiness the Dalai Lama does Yamantaka self-initiation every day. He has said that
when he does, he keeps Geshe Kelsang 112 in his heart. Geshe Kelsang is totally against His
Holiness; he demonstrates and criticizes so much, but His Holiness says he keeps him in his
heart. He told us this.
Sera Je Geshe Dawa was the first resident teacher at Tara House, Melbourne, and also taught
at Buddha House in Adelaide and later at Vajrayana Institute in Sydney. Then he started to
rebuild his old monastery in Tibet. He is now extremely old. When he heard His Holiness
say that about Geshe Kelsang he said, “Oh, I wish I was that!” Geshe Dawa said he wished
he were like Geshe Kelsang so that His Holiness would hold him in his heart!
That is a very good practice. When His Holiness takes the bodhisattva vows he keeps Geshe
Kelsang—who complains about and criticizes him so much—in his heart. If there is
somebody who criticizes you, who abuses you, who blames you, it is good to remember that
and, following His Holiness’s practice, keep that person in your heart.
When you take a Highest Yoga Tantra initiation you must also take the bodhisattva and
tantric vows. Taking the bodhisattva vows is like your contribution to world peace. With
these vows, you dedicate your life to helping all sentient beings.
Keeping the tantric vows is the fundamental practice of a tantric practice. Even if you don’t
meditate on the path, if you keep the vows purely you can become enlightened, if not in this
life then within three, seven or definitely sixteen lifetimes.
There are five samayas that go with the tantric vows, the samayas of Vairochana,
Akshobhya, Ratnasambhava, Amitabha and Amoghasiddhi. The first one, the samaya of
Vairochana, represents the three types of morality: the moralities of abstaining from
nonvirtue, ripening your own mind and ripening others’ minds.
The first morality is the morality of abstaining from the ten nonvirtues and so forth. That is
self-explanatory. Then there is the morality of ripening your own mind, which in this context
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