Lama Zopa Rinpoche

human mother. If we were to sacrifice our lives equaling the number of the dust particles of
this earth or the sand grains of the Pacific Ocean for just this life’s mother, we could still not
finish repaying her kindness.
These are the four kindnesses as explained by Kyabje Khunu Lama Rinpoche, from whom
His Holiness received extensive commentary on Shantideva’s Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of
Life.
Wasting our life, we waste our parents’ lives
This life’s parents are more powerful objects for us than other people. Ordained people are
more powerful objects than our parents, though. By serving the Sangha we collect much
merit and purify much negative karma, more than with this life’s parents, but still, our
parents are very powerful objects for creating merit and negativity as well.
Many older Western students have received teachings and initiations from Kyabje Zong
Rinpoche. Now his incarnation is an expert because he was an expert in his past life, like the
former past great yogis such as Nagarjuna and Asanga. The incarnation is young but he has
already finished his geshe studies in Ganden Shartse Monastery. A long time ago, I was
fortunate to able to help with some of the expenses and make offering to the monasteries. I
told him that I believed he would be able to offer service to the monastery, to take
responsibility like an abbot for all the monks, for their education and their practice in the
monastery. It is easy to go to the West to teach, but it is very important in the monastery to
look after the discipline and to give the monks an education and take care of them. I said
that I felt he would be able to do that. He told me jokingly he would take that as a prediction
from me. He is very famous in Ganden Shartse Monastery.
Kyabje Zong Rinpoche was a very high lama in his past life. He became the abbot of
Ganden Shartse, where there were many thousand monks. Once, when his parents came
from Kham to Lhasa and he was able to stay with them, he wanted to serve them, to clean
the house and get rid of the garbage, to make food and so forth. In his heart he really wanted
to do everything a servant would do as a way of repaying their great kindness. He told me he
was able to do some of those things—not everything, just cleaning the room and the like—
but because of his position as a high lama somehow it was not appropriate. In his heart he
really wanted to serve his parents because through having learned the Dharma he
understood the kindness of the parents.
Understanding the kindness of our parents, we should practice Dharma and use our body,
speech and mind to not create negative karma. If we harm other sentient beings and
ourselves it completely wastes our parents’ lives. For many, many years they served us, took
care of us and gave us an education, and if we then waste all that, we have wasted their lives,
made them empty. There has been no positive result from what they have done.
We must serve others. Even if we don’t practice Dharma, we must develop a good heart and
live a good life. We must become good human beings and serve others with a sincere heart,
with compassion. His Holiness emphasizes nowadays that even if we lead a secular life rather
than practicing Dharma we must still live an ethical life; we must bring happiness to others
and ourselves.
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