The Most Scary Things Are the Beginningless and Endless Sufferings of Samsara

When we or others are experiencing sickness and pain, or obstacles of any kind, to recite the Heart Sutra while remembering that these obstacles are empty of existing from their own side is a powerful meditation for pacifying obstacles. The essence of Buddha’s 84,000 teachings is emptiness, which Lama Zopa Rinpoche explains, is set out in the Essence of Wisdom, also know as the Heart Sutra. Rinpoche reminds us that before reciting this sutra, we must remember the sufferings of the beings in the six realms, including ourselves, which we’ve been experiencing from beginningless rebirths. That is the most scary thing. Another most scary thing is that if we don’t realize emptiness, we will have to experience all these sufferings again! As Rinpoche says, compared to this beginningless and endless suffering, the problems of this life are nothing. Therefore, to eliminate the root of samara and put an end to all our suffering forever, we need to listen, reflect, and meditate on the Heart Sutra. The teaching for this episode was recorded on May 27, 2019, at Institut Vajra Yogini, France.