Raktrul Rinpoche (Dotulku) explores The Secrets of the Realized Ones, discussing the mysteries of the Buddha's body, speech, and mind—particularly emphasizing how an awakened being can liberate others through speech alone, transforming minds without uttering a single word.
In this episode of 84000’s Teachings on Sūtra series, Raktrul Rinpoche (Dotulku) offers a beautiful teaching on “The Secrets of the Tathagata,” which closely references the profound sūtra, The Secrets of the Realized Ones (Toh 47). The event coincided with Lhabab Düchen, the auspicious day that celebrates the Buddha’s return from the god realms after being there during the three-month “rains retreat” to teach his mother, who had been reborn in that realm. Dotulku Rinpoche explains that the significance of the auspicious day lies in the Buddha’s descent back to the human realm to continue teaching us. Dotulku Rinpoche selected The Secrets of the Realized Ones as the primary text for his talk for many reasons, but mainly because it focuses on the qualities of the Buddha as someone whose only motivation is compassion, who only seeks to benefit us, and who manifests so many other qualities, but who is also someone who will always be “mysterious to us.” Dotulku Rinpoche provides insights and references from this and other sūtras that relate to the mysteries and secrets of the Buddha’s body, speech and mind, and explains how a fully awakened being is able to teach without even uttering one word. Among the Buddha’s qualities, Dotulku Rinpoche says that to him the most important to him is the Buddha’s speech. “To be able to liberate someone just by speaking to them, that is true strength, true blessing, true power,” he says.The conversation ends with a wide-ranging question and answer session covering topics such as impermanence, the metaphor of the Buddha’s mind as a wind instrument, and the meaning of nonduality.
Highlights:
[17:50] Description of the Buddha – “Such a being will always be mysterious to us…”
[25:10] Importance of Lhabab Düchen and the Buddha’s descent back to the human realm.
[32:08] Start of explanation of the text, The Secrets of the Realized Ones.
[45:44] Discussion of the Buddha’s speech and how one’s mind can be utterly purified just by listening to an awakened being.
[56:38] Question and answer session.References:The Secrets of the Realized Ones (Toh 47)
Q&A
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Raktrul Rinpoche (Dotulku) Will Share Teachings on “The Secrets of the Tathagata”
84000 is pleased to announce that our next Teachings on Sūtra event will take place on November 22 to honor the auspicious occasion of Lhabab Düchen, which celebrates the Buddha’s return from the god realms. On this important day, Raktrul Rinpoche (Dotulku) will share insights on the topic of “The Secrets of the Tathagata.” His online talk will closely reference the sūtra, The Secrets of the Realized Ones (Toh 47), translated by our 84000 translation team. Simultaneous Interpretation will be provided in Chinese, German, Portuguese, and Sharchop.
The Secrets of the Realized Ones offers a series of teachings by Vajrapāṇi on the mysteries, or secrets, of the body, speech and mind of bodhisattvas and the realized ones. In the second half of the sūtra, Vajrapāṇi describes several events in the Buddha’s life: his practice of severe asceticism, his approach to the seat of awakening, his defeat of Māra, his awakening, and his turning of the wheel of Dharma.
Details
Date: November 22
Time: 8am EST | 2pm CET | 6:30pm IST
More resources
The Secrets of the Realized Ones with Dr. David Fiordalis
The Secrets of the Realized Ones (Toh 47) - Full Translation
Raktrul Rinpoche (Do Tulku Rinpoche) was recognized at age 17 as the 5th Raktrul Rinpoche, trained for eleven years at Dzongsar Institute, and now teaches Buddhist philosophy across Asia and Europe with an interactive, unconventional, and humorous style.
