Most people who would like to give up eating meat but have been unable to do so say the reason is because of the flavor and because of habit. Many people say they just like how meat tastes. What keeps them eating meat is craving the taste on their tongues. This is the power that […]
We should use our creativity and imagination and our senses to cultivate compassion and extend it to all sentient beings. We should try and free our compassion so that it can travel beyond our own bodies and seep throughout the environment. If we use our imagination in this way then our compassion can help beings. […]
There is great transformative power in the act of discovery. No founder of any religion was a follower. The Buddha became the Buddha because he discovered important truths for himself. Many remarkable people following within his tradition also came to that understanding themselves. The same is true of the founders and remarkable followers of every […]
I want to be clear that seeking your own understanding does not mean rejecting all established spiritual paths. Many people feel that organized religions are problematic – or even hopelessly flawed. They might even think that they could assemble a better religion for themselves by picking and choosing bits they like from different religions. I […]
To secure our own happiness and causes of happiness, we must first act to create wholesome causes of happiness. We must create virtue. We must engage in good conduct. We must generate wholesome attitudes. These are important. 17th Karmapa
We should not say bad things about anyone, whether or not they are bodhisattvas. It is not the same thing, however, if we know that pointing out someone’s mistakes will help them to change. Generally speaking, since it is not easy to change another person, we should avoid criticism. Other people do not like to […]
When it comes to the true nature of mind, this isn’t something that we get from a spiritual tradition or religion. It’s not something that we need to seek from a guru or that we need to find by going to a sacred place, but it’s a matter of recognizing who we are, whatever that […]
If you find yourself angry at any government, please recollect how harmful anger is to yourself and others, and steady yourself with a firm resolve. Make an unwavering commitment to yourself that you will not allow your mind to become perturbed. Be immovable – unshakable from a peaceful state of mind. 17th Karmapa
Generally speaking, there are many aspects to Buddhist logic, but the following is the main point; the continuation of material things and the continuation of consciousness are something separate. Because the continuation of consciousness is understood through the experience and awareness that there is clarity in our mind, it is not something you can actually […]
We need to have a balance in our view of compassion between ourselves and others. Until that time when we are established as bodhisattvas, we cannot just think of others without taking care of ourselves. 17th Karmapa
We should notfeel like we are strangers to each other but rather that we share a collective karma with one another on this earth and it is our responsibility to try to improve it. The basis of Lord Buddha’s teachings is that nothing rises by itself and we are not individual entities living by ourselves. […]
Usually when we get angry about something our mind is totally focused on this one point, this personal incident, so our anger becomes stronger and stronger, then we feel that we have to do something about it, that we have to act. Anger can go to many places, towards oneself as well. Instead of focusing […]
Within our beings, all of us, there are these uncontrived, natural roots of virtue, these instinctive seeds of innate goodness. We still look for something outside ourselves, not knowing how priceless and how important what we already have is. We need to look at these seeds of virtue in our mind as if they were […]
I truly feel that contentment is the greatest wealth. Anyone can claim it for themselves. Anyone can own it. Contentment is an incredible wealth that we don’t have to pay for, or seek anywhere outside ourselves. The natural resources to create this wealth are the inner riches of our own mind. Contentment is a wealth […]
From among all […] adverse conditions, the foremost is jealousy. Jealousy can rob us of our freedom and interrupt loving relationships between people. Jealousy occurs when we cannot tolerate others encountering situations that seem to involve more happiness than what we have. When we continually feel the need to have others beneath us and none […]
No one can compel you to eat meat or to be vegetarian. You have to think carefully for yourself, and then act according to your own values and for your own reasons. […] The reasons have to be compelling and convincing enough to change our mental attitudes, not just our physical actions. Only a change […]
Your own interests and your own life will be balanced only when they include both the well-being of yourself and others. Any wholesome undertaking necessarily includes a desire to benefit others. If an undertaking is egocentric and full of self-cherishing, then that balance will be extremely difficult to find and maintain. 17th Karmapa
None of us can live our lives independently, without depending on others at all. None of us have complete control over what will happen in our lives because everything is interdependent upon everything else. 17th Karmapa
Do not let anyone tell you how you must look or act just because you are a man or a woman. You have boundless potential that can only be limited when you believe that your social identity is really who you are. Who you are is not a perfectly measured object. There is tremendous elasticity […]
Even within buddhism, there are various descriptions of this, but in the mahayana tradition it [is] taught that the main criterion for an action being virtuous or non-virtuous is whether one’s intention is or is not virtuous. If you hold the motivation in your mind to be of benefit to others and that they may […]
