Opening Address by Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche

On October 28, 2012, 84000 organized the first sūtra resounding in English under the bodhi tree in Bodhgaya, India. The chair of 84000, Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche opened the event with an address on the significance of reading the words of the Buddha at this holy site.

The Significance of Reading the Words of the Buddha
Under the Bodhi Tree

Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche
Welcome everyone! I’m very fortunate to preside over here for probably the first ever resounding of the sūtras, in languages other than Tibetan, Chinese, Japanese, Sanskrit, Pali, and traditional Buddhist languages.

I take this as very fortunate for all of us. Somewhere here, once upon a time, ten million bodhisattvas were beheaded by a vicious king. Instead of feeling remorse or anger towards the king, all the bodhisattvas practiced compassion, tolerance, love; and all the bodhisattvas decided to aspire for the greater good. It is believed that a thousand of them decided to become teachers, and many other thousands aspired to become disciples of these thousand teachers. Yet other bodhisattvas aspired to become patrons, well-wishers, servants, so on and so forth. So it is for this reason, the seat is so special.

Unlike many holy sites, as a buddhist, I express my pride that, we, the followers of the Buddha, are very proud that our most holy shrine is actually a seat under the tree, where the Buddha actually achieved enlightenment.

Right there, four buddhas in this aeon have already achieved enlightenment. There are 996 buddhas confirmed to be enlightened. I’m sure this is just relative counting. I’m sure if our aspiration and merit is good enough, we are all also going to sit under that tree and benefit many sentient beings. Please generate this motivation.

Relatively speaking, the Buddha benefits sentient beings through his body, speech, mind, quality and activity. Among these five ways to benefit sentient beings, obviously, his speech—the teachings—is the most tangible, most feasible, and most credible. For this reason, to hear, to utter, to make the sound of the Dharma; to possess, to write, to read, to share, to even have it within your possession, is considered to be of infinite value.

Here, many of us are trying to translate the words of the Buddha in different languages. As our first celebration, we are going to read the sūtras in English. So please follow Drubgyud Tenzin Rinpoche.

Click here for more information on the resounding event at Bodhgaya.
Click here to learn about how sūtra resounding is practiced traditionally.

Images of Bodhgaya:

Photos: Toto Iwantoro


Posted: 6 Dec 2012