The audience was held in the shrine hall of Tergar Monastery.
Gyaltsab Rinpoche gave a short address in which he first spoke about how well the 39th Monlam is going. The primary reason, he said, was because of the blessings and compassion of the 17th Gyalwang Karmapa, but also because of the support of the members of the Friends of Kagyu Monlam and the hard work that all the volunteers put in, and he thanked both the members and the volunteers.
In general, Buddhism teaches that everything rests on our aspirations. For buddhas to appear, for Shakyamuni Buddha to appear, depends on aspirations. This is true for all the buddhas of the future. In addition, it was because of their aspirations that the Buddha’s first disciples, the group of five who heard the first sermon; and the great arhats such as Shariputra, Maudgalyāyana, Mahākāśyapa, and so forth, all heard the Buddha’s teachings, because of the power of their aspirations. After the Buddha passed away, in order for the Dharma to flourish, there were many arhats and siddhas and scholars who appeared, because of their aspirations and their diligence.
Similarly, in Tibet, there were many great masters who appeared, and the Dharma spread widely, and that was because of people’s aspirations. Similarly, with the Karmapas, there have been seventeen until now and there will be many in the future, all based on their aspirations.
It is very good to be making aspirations in Bodhgaya. Basically, everything we do in Monlam is related to our aspirations. Starting with refuge and the generation of bodhicitta in the morning, we are making aspirations. When we make offerings, we are making aspirations. When we make confession, we are making aspirations. Everything, the whole way through, is related to aspirations.
One of the particular features of Buddhism is the view that basically all phenomena — the whole of samsara — depends upon the mind. Liberation depends upon the mind. It’s primary. Even when we consider the teachings such as the Four Noble Truths, they also depend on the mind. Anything we are doing, depends upon our mind.
With regards to the Kagyu Monlam, there are common and shared purposes, and there is also a particular purpose. The common purpose is that by making aspirations it helps create the conditions for natural disasters such as wildfires and such, and war and conflict to be pacified. By making the aspirations, we are able to help sentient beings. That is why we make aspirations on a general level. Specifically, we make aspirations that the teachings of the Buddha may last for a long time. In order for Buddhism to remain in the world, we need the teachings of scripture and realisation, and both of these also come down to our aspirations. If we have the aspirations, these will remain, hence the Buddha’s teachings will remain, and people will be able to continue practising Buddhism.
When we make these aspirations together at the Monlam, rather than just one or two people on their own doing aspirations, the effects are far more powerful. When we gather at the Monlam, it is not just who we can see—the congregation of monks, nuns and laypeople—that are present; there are also all of the buddhas, bodhisattvas, deities and so forth joining with us and making the aspirations.
After Rinpoche had finished speaking, all the volunteers and the members of the Friends of Kagyu Monlam were able to line up one-by-one to receive Rinpoche’s blessing.
