The degree to which we are able to offer, or surrender, our body, speech, and mind to our guru depends on the amount of confidence we have in ourselves and in our teacher. Milarepa, for example, endured countless difficulties during his discipleship under Marpa. Yet for Milarepa, these experiences were beneficial because he had stable […]
Put simply, to think in terms of the harm that comes to us via all sentient beings engenders hatred toward others and is based on a principal belief in selfishness. We should not think, “Oh, lots of horrible things have been done to me” and get stuck on that. Instead, if we nurture the other […]
There is no single, definitive tradition in the buddhadharma, because there are all kinds of sentient beings who have their own interests and dispositions. For that reason, there has to be a wide variety in methods for traversing the path. Mind is not a definite, concrete thing. For that reason, the methods for relating to […]
To understand the nature of the mind, there are two ways: one is easier, the other is harder. The easier way involves your lama introducing you to the nature of the mind, and on that basis you work on that and come to know the mind and its nature. As for the harder way, even […]
Our prayers and aspirations can reach far. We can see the light of stars that are thousands of light years away. Those stars may not even exist any longer, but the light they sent out can still travel and reach us here. The mind can travel even farther. There is no limit to where our […]
The practice of dharma is like exercising or carefully following a course of training, which is powerful and deeply significant. For example, if you are in the military, you train every day. In the same way, with the dharma, you have to train your mind daily. Not just to relax but to be able to […]
The student needs to have faith and longing, and if this faith and longing come together then I don’t think that sort of a student will have any difficulty finding a genuine, authentic Lama. The reason is that all the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas are ready at all six times of day and night to do […]
If I were asked the question, “What religion are you?” it would seem very odd if I did not say, “I’m a Buddhist.” After all, people look to me as a Buddhist leader! To keep things simple, it is easier for me to say, “I am a Buddhist.” Yet that is not how I see […]
The Buddhist teachings move along a graduated path: first the stages of calm abiding and then the stages of deep insight. Through such gradual practices, lamas of the past gave birth to realization in their mental continuum and discovered primordial wisdom. All the qualities that the great masters found, we can attain as well. It […]
Living in the present world of technology, illusions have become amplified and multiplied. In the present world that we live in, the causes for all kinds of thoughts, confusions and illusions of reality have increased many times over. For instance, when different companies produce new technologies or gadgets, obviously their main strategies are to cater […]
