Lama Zopa Rinpoche continues his oral transmission and commentary of the Praise to Buddha Shakyamuni. He explains how the second last verse of this prayer shows how all causative phenomena are transitory and they do not exist in the way they appear. He emphasizes that they do exist, just not in the way they appear.

Rinpoche says that it’s a very good meditation to continuously practice mindfulness by looking at life as like a dream. Similarly, when we recite the Heart Sutra, we use the word “no” on the merely labeled aggregates, form, feeling, cognition, consciousness. We use the word “no” like an atomic bomb thrown over the object of ignorance, which is the I appearing as a real one existing from its own side.

Rinpoche explains how Lama Atisha used the word “AH” instead of “no” when reciting the Heart Sutra. He would say “AH form, AH sound” instead of “no form, no sound”. The reason is because AH is one syllable of the Perfection of Wisdom Sutra, which encompasses the heart of the 84,000 teachings of Shakyamuni Buddha. “AH” is a negative word, the same as “no”; it negates the hallucination of true existence.

Rinpoche states that Buddha liberates us by revealing the truth, and it’s only the wisdom realizing emptiness that can directly remove our delusions. So, it’s important to be continually mindful of looking at the hallucination as a hallucination. Rinpoche says that we should use the dream in the place of no or AH and put the dream over the hallucination. When you practice mindfulness of this continuously, it brings you to the point of realizing emptiness (or at least reducing anger and attachment).

From April 10 to May 10, 2004, Lama Zopa Rinpoche gave extensive teachings during the Mahamudra Retreat at Buddha House in Australia. While the retreat focused on Mahamudra, Rinpoche also taught on a wide range of Lamrim topics. This retreat marked the beginning of a series of month-long retreats in Australia. Subsequent retreats were held in 2011, 2014, and 2018, hosted by the Great Stupa of Universal Compassion in Bendigo.

Find out more about Lama Zopa Rinpoche, his teachings and projects at https://fpmt.org/