Among the Best Dharma Protector
(Dakini/Dharmapala)/Guardian

Rinpoche first discoursed on 7^th November, 1993
Rinpoche repeated it in the Vajrayana Association(France) in September, 1994
Uploaded to the Website on 6^th December, 2014 (after about twenty-one years)

Introduction
─	How should a Vajrayana practitioner upgrade his/her cultivation?  Chanting mantras daily seems to be a kind of ‘external/hard skill’(wai/ying gong 外功). ‘Chanting mantras desperately and recklessly!’  with the same action repeated unceasingly every day. If the chanting of mantras is done without the coordination of ‘internal skill’ (nei gong 內功), that is to say there is no ‘external and internal’ cultivation concurrently (remark: external refers to energy whereas internal refers to ‘qi’); the power of mantra cannot exert its effectiveness. Chanting mantras in such a way for several decades, one’s knowledge still remains superficial and scanty, or one is even ignorant without any understanding.
─	What is ‘internal skill’?  Internal skill refers to the concepts and laws of Wisdom, Emptiness (Sanskrit: Sunyata), Six Paramitas and Eightfold Noble Path, etc. All these can be derived from Buddhist theories and it is also the reason why we open the Buddhism Talk.
─	If there is no ‘external and internal’ cultivation concurrently, one cannot be able to become a Masterpiece of Vajrayana Buddhism. Using mantra power and Dharma power blindly without the ‘rationality’ of the Buddhist knowledge as a basis, one will eventually become either deities/fairies of incantation or an assembly of demons and one’s mind and spirit are not easy to have the utmost liberation. All the good karma done is entirely the blessed rewards of the transmigration between birth and death; however, it can also be the accumulation for becoming demons all because the Mantra-holders do not possess Bodhicitta (the awakened mind). According to 【Avatamsaka Sutra】, “By forgetting the launching of Bodhicitta, the cultivation of even all wholesome Dharmas becomes karma of demons.”
─	Nevertheless, returning to the main topic, one who has chanted mantras for several decades is anyway better than those who do not chant mantras at all because one can eradicate one’s evil karma by chanting mantras. However, it is far from telling you to chant mantras to aid someone else or use the power of mantras to remove others’ ill-fortune since the employment of the power of mantras must be escorted by means of Bodhicitta as the internal basic skill.
Today is the last lesson of the Buddhism class and after this; we are going to study and research the theories of Buddha Dharma in some other forms. The presentation of souvenirs to senior fellow brother Ko is to thank him and his beautiful wife. Senior fellow brother Ko is an outstanding Buddhist scholar who is so rare and commendable that he takes initiation (to conduct the Dharma Talk for us). His daughter is not feeling well today, senior fellow brother Ko still manages to find time to come for the teaching. In order to be grateful to their mercy, some souvenirs are presented to express our gratitude and appreciation.
We are going to have Buddha Amitabha Dharma for our group-cultivation today. Buddha Amitabha represents Compassion and Sympathy, how can we repay His Compassion and Sympathy?  As I (Rinpoche) am not able to present Him any souvenirs, I can only try my best to teach some sentient beings to serve as a present for Him.
Content
─	We are all humans but not Sun Wukong (also known as Monkey King). We are all given birth by our mothers after 10-month pregnancy but not as the saying goes “One was born out of a rock (according to the story, the early history of the Monkey King spirit was a rebellious one born out of a rock)!”  It so happens that my mother, who is currently lying in a hospital ward, is also of old-age. She is confronting the stage of ‘rebirth in the Pure Land’ (remark: ‘rebirth in the Pure Land’ is a Buddhist term. It means pass away.), but I am still staying here (in Shrine) to give discourses to all of you. Why don’t I go to visit her in the hospital?  It is because I still have to lead disciples to conduct group-cultivation and give talks on Buddha Dharma (here). I hereby dedicate all the merits and virtues achieved today through Dharma cultivation, mantra-chanting as well as discourses to her; I am going to visit her later and cultivate the Phowa (remark: Phowa is also spelled as Powa, Sanskrit: saṃkrānti, a Vajrayana meditation practice which is described as ‘transference of consciousness at the time of death’ or ‘enlightenment without meditation’) for the ‘dying’ grand old woman.
─	Apparently, she is just an old lady, who looks like ordinary, mediocre and is as thin as a lath/as thin as a rail. However, she is the first ‘female’ (just like the Dakini /Guardian) who takes care of me in my life. She protected me (in my infancy) from any causes of contamination that would blaspheme my clean and pure physical body. For example, she insisted on refusing that nurse who took care of me to kiss my small, little mouth when I was a baby.
─	On her first day living into the elderly home, my mum was very sad and she refused to do the check-in. Why?  Afraid of being alone?  Fear of loneliness?  She had been a professional nurse and was promoted to be the Head Nurse until her retirement, so she had no fear of that. She simply said to me, “Son, I feel burdensome to let you shoulder the fee of the elderly home as you still have to look after plenty of people and handle lots of matters in which the expenses are also absolutely enormous!”  After saying these few words, my mum did not make conversations any more. She retained her silence without saying a word. The grand old woman is unhappy and is having a hard time, whereas I have been busy with the local Dharma affairs as well as the Dharma transmission in foreign countries that make me unable to spare any free time to visit her at all.
─	Why do I seldom visit this old lady?  Is it because I do not want her to miss me so much?  Is it for fear that when she enters into reincarnation and rebirth as human in the future, she will be back to wait on me as my attendant after eighteen years, …?  Entirely none of these reasons!  She has thoroughly understood the principles of right and wrong and has ever possessed an infinite faith by saying that, “There’s no need to come to see me daily or even monthly, I can manage to take care of myself. You’d better spread Buddhism effectively so as to repay the Buddha’s kindness. We’re going to meet each other in Heaven!”
─	In my eyes, my mother is a beautiful lady. When she was young, she was very pretty, flamboyant as well as attractive. Now that she is aged, I have never loathed with her superannuated beauty. Have you ever hated and abandoned your mums for their old and ugliness, wrinkled faces, toothless situation, odour of old people and slow walking-rate, etc.?
─	‘Mother’ of every practitioner is also one’s own Dharma Protector who looks after us until now when we are grown to maturity. The kind of love which my mother gives me is unconditional. It is different from that of other women, such as wife or girl-friend, whose love demands for something in return from you. For instance, you may be asked to give her a confession of love, to be good to her, to make her happy….
─	Many years ago, my mother cut me her hair and asked me to store it up as something to commemorate her. She said, “You’re my Guru who teaches me Buddhism; please remember to give me your blessings when I die.” I answered, “When you’ve taken rebirth in the Pure Land and meet deities, tell them that I’m your son. Bodhisattvas and Dharma Protectors (Dakini /Dharmapala )’ll  then help you.”
─	All refuge, the Eight Precepts Retreat, the Bodhisattva Vows, etc. that my mother took from Exoteric Buddhism were escorted by me. Moreover, I also brought her (and my father) to accept the refuge in many sects of Vajrayana Buddhism. It was just like in the past when I was a child, my mother took care of me and she brought me to attend kindergarten, primary school and then secondary school.

Conclusion
●	Females represents both Compassion and Wisdom. They are highly appreciated as well as respected in Tantric Buddhism.
●	Never forget to repay parents’ kindness ! To repay the Buddha’s kindness!