From the Buddhist perspective, death does not just mean coming to an end. It also means coming to a beginning. Death is a process of change. Ending itself is neither positive nor negative; it is just reality. Death was part of the deal when we accepted the idea of birth. Our entrance into this world […]
When we connect with our heart of devotion, then, in that moment, we are connecting very powerfully, immediately, and directly with the awakened heart of the guru and the lineage, as well as our own inherently awakened state. Working with our devotion means that we are not just relying on our own efforts. We are […]
It is important to sit with confidence and to arouse the intention to achieve enlightenment in that very session. If you become accustomed to generating such confidence now, then at the time of death you can manifest the same level of confidence and trust in your practice. Ponlop Rinpoche
Only when we have a genuine, abiding desire to free ourselves from suffering and all its causes does our spiritual journey begin. That original desire is very potent and very real. It is the basis upon which we enter the path that will lead us to our goal. Yet from the point of view of […]
The wisdom we’re looking for is not just an answer we get from a religious person or subject matter expert who tells us what to think. Real wisdom is when you find a true question. When you find it, you should not rush to answer it. Stay with it for a while. Make friends with […]
The Buddha said long ago that when anyone in the future met with his teachings, it would be the same as meeting him in person. Therefore we can “meet the Buddha” today in the form of teachers, teachings, or our own practice. Saying we want to meet the Buddha is like saying we want to […]
Love is when you are thinking: “How can I make you happy?” Attachment is when you are thinking: “Why aren’t you making me happy?” Ponlop Rinpoche
Compassion must start with seeing our own suffering. If it does not, then seeing the suffering of others will be merely conceptual. It will merely be a matter of having learned about suffering from a book or philosophy. We may intellectually know about the different types of suffering and so forth, but without inward reflection, […]
Ironically, in some respects, modern science has become our collective religion. We tend to believe what science tells us about our physical reality without much thought. On the other hand, when we’re told about the true nature of mind, we don’t easily believe it. Why do we believe in black holes, something we can’t readily […]
If we look like Buddhists and talk like Buddhists and sit on a cushion like the other Buddhists, then we think we are automatically followers of the Buddha’s teachings. But all these concepts are cutting us off from the utter simplicity of the Buddha’s example and message. We do wheat we do simply to wake […]
Whatever sensory experiences we go through, if we go through them with mindfulness and awareness, there is no limit to how far we can go. The limit is mindfulness and awareness. Even if we don’t enjoy the experience, that itself becomes a trip. The nonenjoyment becomes a cause of suffering. That’s why, if we don’t […]
To discover your real questions, simply take a time-out. Stop looking ahead of yourself at where you’re going or backward at where you’ve been. When you do stop, there’s a sense of going nowhere. There’s a sense of gap, which is a tremendous relief. You can simply breathe and be who you are. At the […]
The point of training in higher knowledge is not to become a container of facts or a believer in any particular philosophical system. The whole point is to clearly see what is truth and what is illusion in how we live. It means we understand the relationship of cause and effect, and we see how […]
Before we can extend our compassion to others, we first have to extend it to ourselves. How do we do this? We have to look at our own mind and appreciate how our own neurotic expressions – our confused thoughts and disturbing emotions – are actually helping us wake up. Our aggression can help us […]
Whenever we put hope in something, we get fear: it’s a package deal whether we like it or not! Ponlop Rinpoche
We talk about blind faith in religion, but actual blind faith exists in our everyday world. What do we really trust? We trust our senses, our perceptions, our culture, our thoughts ― completely, one-pointedly, and blindly. We trust these more than we trust religion. The idea of having blind faith in religion is totally a […]
Compassion or altruism is not about being perfect or just doing good; It’s about this daring heart that cherishes others and life itself. Ponlop Rinpoche
The mistaken ideas about the essence arise from fixated attachment that solidifies the present mind as being negative. You believe that noble and positive wisdom will be attained only if present mind is relinquished. This is a mistaken idea in the Mahamudra tradition, because there is no wisdom higher than present mind itself. Ponlop Rinpoche
The nature of mind is free, yet we are binding it every minute. That is the problem: we want it to be free, but we won’t let it be free. Ponlop Rinpoche
It is important to realize that there is nobody else who can wake us up and save us from samsara. There is no such thing in Buddhism. That may be Buddhism’s biggest drawback, and at the same time its greatest advantage. This view shows us that there is nobody else in control of our lives, […]
