Thought Power

On May 8, 2011 His Holiness the Dalai Lama gave the Medicine Buddha empowerment and a public talk on “Peace Through Inner Peace.” Both of these programswere part of the theme “One Heart, One Mind, One Universe” of this visit to Minneapolis, which is co-hosted by the Center for Spirituality & Healing (CSH) at the University of Minnesota and the Tibetan American Foundation of Minnesota (TAFM)... His Holiness said extreme self-centered attitude and narrow vision not only did not enable the development of inner peace but also could be harming people physically.

To practise Dharma is not merely to carry the name of being a buddhist. Nor is it to make certain superficial alterations in our lifestyle. Dharma practice means the total integration of our minds and the Dharma.

There are two basic premises in Buddhism based on which I propose to talk to you on this subject of animal rights this evening. At the very outset, it is good to remind ourselves that more than two and half millennia ago, the Buddha had a vision of the universe, not as one created by any one at any specific point of time, but as one which has evolved itself through both time and space.

The talks translated in this book were all taken from old cassette tape recordings of Venerable Ajahn Chah, some in Thai and some in the North-Eastern dialect, most recorded on poor quality equipment under less than optimum conditions. This presented some difficulty in the work of translation, which was overcome by occasionally omitting very unclear passages and at other times asking for advice from other listeners more familiar with those languages. Nevertheless there has inevitably been some editing in the process of making this book. Apart from the difficulties presented by the lack of clarity of the tapes, there is also the necessity of editing when one is taking words from the spoken to the written medium. For this, the translator takes full responsibility.

Once' the Buddha was staying at the City of Royal Palaces on Mount Grdhrakuta with a great assemblage of great bhlkshus, in all twelve thousand. There were eighty thousand bodhisattva- mahasattvas. There were gods, dragons, yakshas gandharvas asuras garudas, kimnaras, and mahoragas, besides all the bhlkshus bhikshunis updsakas, and upasikas.

The Buddha delivers to you what you need when you need it, and we should never lose faith in that.

With the Jade Buddha now touring the world, many communities are now taking the time to reflect upon peace. How can we attain peace? Where can we find it? What are the steps to peace?