Heart Sūtra New Year Retreat and Avalokiteśvara Jenang Empowerment

Together with the students of Manjushri Dharma Center, we annually hold a retreat during the period
between the Western New Year and the Tibetan New Year. I consider this to be something extremely important.

Why is that?

At New Year’s time, many people gather at night with their friends, drinking alcohol, dancing and singing, enjoying themselves, and thus finishing the old year in festivity and pleasure. In general, as the noble A Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life Shantideva has said,

"All actions are undertaken for the sake of happiness;
Yet even if one tries to buy it with riches, happiness is hard to find."

Whatever activities or livelihoods people engage in, they are done solely for happiness. Therefore, to spend even a single day joyfully with one’s loved ones is indeed something worthy of appreciation. At all times, to remain in mutual love and happiness is a meaningful and proper way to live a human life.

However, the way beings seek happiness differs in aim and short term transitory happiness or long term, permanent ultimate happiness. Some regard temporary enjoyment of the objects of the five senses as ultimate happiness. From a Buddhist perspective, the happiness that follows after sensory consciousness is not genuine happiness; it is suffering of change.

If one reflects carefully, this is truly so. Why? Although today one may be temporarily healthy and well, tomorrow one may be seized by illness or even die. Impermanence is directly visible to all. For that reason, during the joyful New Year period, I take the opportunity to remain in retreat with my students and encourage as much meditation practice as possible.

This year, during the New Year retreat teachings, over three days teachings were given on the Heart Sūtra, bestowal of the Avalokiteśvara jenang (permission empowerment), and took the Bodhisattva vows together.

The reason for teaching the Heart Sūtra this year is this: I hope that these students who place their trust in me will not merely sit in short sessions of blank meditation without thinking about anything, nor simply chant liturgies melodiously, but that they may gain a deep and certain understanding of the Dharma in general, and especially of the Mahāyāna teachings.

When explaining the Heart Sūtra, I did not merely speak superficially about emptiness, but explained it as thoroughly as possible.

The great Lord Je Tsongkhapa said:

“If one lacks the wisdom realizing the nature of reality,
Even if one has trained in renunciation and bodhicitta,
One cannot cut the root of cyclic existence.
Therefore, strive in the method of realizing dependent origination.”

In the final line, he did not say, “Therefore, strive in the method of realizing emptiness,” but instead said, “Therefore, strive in the method of realizing dependent origination.” There must be a very important reason for this.

Nowadays, many meditators — especially within Western societies where meditation has become widespread — sit in a kind of meditation where they merely block the temporary operation of the six consciousnesses and remain blank without thinking of anything. They then loudly proclaim, “I meditate!” But this is like shooting an arrow without seeing the target.

If one does not first ascertain:

• what exactly is to be negated in emptiness,

• by what method it is negated,

• in what manner it is empty,

• and what follows from that emptiness,
  

Then, there is danger of falling into errors and misconceptions about emptiness.

Therefore, to understand emptiness correctly, one must first thoroughly understand the crucial points of dependent origination. Accordingly, I explained dependent origination in detail, distinguishing:

1. Dependent origination as cause and effect,

2. Dependent origination through mutual relational designation.

3. Dependent origination as mere imputation by name,

Analyzing these in subtle and coarse distinctions. Many people were very pleased.

Although I usually very rarely bestow empowerments, this year I gave an Avalokiteśvara jenang empowerment.

The reason for giving the jenang is this: The teaching of the Heart Sūtra was blessed by the Buddha, and Avalokiteśvara gave the response to Śāriputra’s question. In that sense, it would not be incorrect to say that the Heart Sūtra is Avalokiteśvara’s teaching. For that reason, I bestowed the Avalokiteśvara jenang this year.

Including this year’s teachings, I believe this is approximately the third time that the Heart Sūtra teachings have been given at this place.

On the following day, we concluded with prayers composed by the late Kyabje Sangye Dorje, including:

• “The Prayer to Pacify Nuclear Weapons,”
  (formally titled: “A Supplication Prayer to Invoke the Heart Commitment that Reverses the Turmoil of Degenerate Times, Known as the Sage’s Curse Mantra”),

• Prayers for world peace,

• Prayers for the flourishing of the teachings,

• The Butterlamp Prayers.
  
  

With these three concluding prayers, the beginning of the year retreat for the year 2026 was completed successfully and without obstacles.